Vengeance is Mastermind
by Cadet Deming
Summary: Wade Wilson, Emma Frost, Victor Creed, and Jason Stryker look to get revenge on Colonel Stryker.Emma/Wade and Victor/Marrow romance, combines movie comic-verses,and an alternate take on how Wade gets disfigured, cameos from others COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 1

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated T for adult language and situations. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own.

**Author's notes: Victor Creed's characterization is based on the Wolverine Origins Movie, Wade Wilson/Deadpool will occasionally break the fourth wall, and Emma Frost will be loosely based on the comics, but considering that she's a "Canon Sue" to begin with and her back story felt like a Sweet Valley High/Soap Opera with telepathy added, I'll try to reign those aspects in. I'm going with the assumption that Jason Stryker in the movie-verse is based on Jason Wyngarde/Mastermind in the comics.**

**Central Park, New York City, the Mid 1980's**

Victor Creed hated New York. He hated cities in general. They had nothing going for them other than being a "target rich environment". New York was the worst of the worst. The people were rude, the stink of pollution was awful, and it seems like every other superhero and mutant decided to live here. Couldn't do-gooders in spandex pick St. Louis to put down roots for a change?

He was on his way to meet a new employer. He used to be a member of a secret U.S. military special ops group called "Team X" in the 1970's, but its leader Colonel Stryker turned out to be a backstabbing son of a bitch who tried to have him killed. Since then Creed had mostly done freelance mercenary and assassination work.

He walked to an agreed-upon park bench. The pigeons scattered in his wake. They were smarter than their species' reputation.

Creed was supposed to meet a new benefactor who called himself "Mastermind." The code names kept getting more and more pretentious. Still, he had been promised $25,000 up front. He said he'd be identifiable by a red scarf on his arm.

A kid approached him. He couldn't have been more than 19 or 20. He was wearing a Lacoste shirt and his left arm was covered with a row of Swatch watches. His right arm had the aforementioned red scarf attached.

"Mr. Creed? I'm Mastermind. It's nice to finally meet you," he said, sticking his hand out.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're just a kid," Creed sneered.

"You mean I don't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger to you? Hmm, interesting. How about now?" the runt replied, putting his fingers to his forehead and squinting.

"No, you look like an appetizer," Victor said.

He smelled him. He had the scent of another mutant. Creed took him for one of those telepathic types. If ferals like him were the class jocks of the mutant world, telepaths were the nerdy chess club types. If he wasn't a paying client, he probably would have ripped his head off with one of his preternaturally oversize claws.

"Your resume said you were resistant to chemical substances and diseases, I suppose you may be resistant to my mind control abilities as well. Do you have any idea who I am?" Mastermind asked.

He didn't smell familiar. The only thing unique about him was his odd-colored eyes. One was a vivid blue, the other an emerald green, like a Turkish Angora cat. The only person Victor had ever seen like that was his old boss Colonel Stryker's son, and he had been cryogenically frozen in a fish tank the last time he saw him. It couldn't be, could it?

"Jason Stryker?" Creed asked, frowning.

"In the flesh. You and I have something in common. We both want my dad dead. Unless you have a problem with patricide. That means killing a father," Jason replied.

Ironically, the condescending little prick sounded just like his dad.

"I know what it means. My brother killed our dad in front of us when I was 14. It was the best thing he ever did. Where's my down payment?" Victor growled.

Jason passed him a briefcase. Victor opened it. It was filled with stacks of money.

"If you and I are going to work together, you could show me a bit more respect. It's not like there aren't plenty of mutants my father didn't torture and imprison over the years that are itching to get revenge, and for a lower price than you," Jason said arrogantly.

Creed considered for a moment taking the down payment and killing Stryker's snotty little hell spawn then and there, but held himself back.

"Respect isn't given. It's earned. I'm a soldier. I respect brawn over egg headed little parlor trick mind games."

Jason smiled smugly. It wasn't a pleasant look at all. He turned his head and scanned the crowd.

"You think I'm not dangerous because my power is mental? I'll tell you what. Pick anyone in sight. I guarantee they'll be dead within the next 5 minutes," Jason said.

Creed looked around. He picked a 6'4" man that looked like a bouncer who was walking east.

"The one in the plaid shirt," Creed said with intentional skepticism.

Jason smiled even deeper. He stared at the man in question and raised his fingertips to his forehead again. He squinted.

The bouncer got a horrified expression on his face. He started screaming.

"No! No! Get it away from me! Doesn't anyone see it! Help! Help!" the man yelled, backing up onto the street in fear of something invisible.

A horn blew loudly and there was a sound of a car stopping short on pavement. A loud crash echoed in the canyons of nearby skyscrapers. People started screaming as the man was hit by a taxi cab. He was thrown into the windshield, cracking the glass into a hundred pieces.

Jason grinned triumphantly from ear to ear at Victor. Creed raised his eyebrow at him in response.

"Wow. You really have no respect for human life. I'm impressed," Victor said dryly.

"Thanks. I could do that all day. Do you want to pick another one, go eenie, meenie, miney, moe?" Jason asked.

"Maybe later. I'm getting hungry. You'll have to tell me how you plan to get to your dear old dad," Creed said.

**Upper East Side, New York City**

Wade Wilson loved New York. It was truly the city that never slept. As a hyperactive, motor-mouthed, Attention Deficit Disorder laden mercenary with artificially enhanced reflexes and resistance, it was the only city in America that didn't bore him. Most importantly New York had the most people, which for Wade meant an unending stream of new faces to be his audience, or his latest mark if the price was right.

He walked through the door of an imposing-looking brownstone. A guy who looked like a butler on steroids greeted him. He gave Wade a disdainful look.

"The Hellfire Club is member's only…sir," the man said.

"I'm here as a guest of Wilson Fisk," Wade responded.

"What is the password," the man asked.

"Brimstone," Wade said.

"I'll buzz someone to escort you in," the man said.

"Thanks. I've wanted to see the inside of this place for so long. I heard it's like Studio 54, but with guys who have access to nuclear codes. I've always wondered about the name, though. I mean, don't strip clubs have to have 'Gold' or 'Silver' or 'Platinum' or 'Brass Ass' in their names?" Wade asked.

"We're not a strip club. We're a gentleman's club for the world's elite," the host said witheringly.

"Tomato, tomatoe. If this fanfic is the third in a trilogy, it had better not suck like _X-Men 3_ did."

"Excuse me?" the host asked.

"Never mind me, I was just talking to the fourth wall," Wade said.

Thankfully, the inner door buzzed and a guard arrived to lead Wade in. The inside was decorated in dark oaks and fluorescent club lights. Madonna's "Like a Virgin" played from the thumping speakers. Women in lingerie and high heels commingled with some of the world's most powerful businessmen and politicians. Strippers gyrated on the stages. The place was an A.D.D. heaven.

Wade went to meet his contact at a table. It wasn't Wilson Fisk himself. He was too much of a kingpin to meet with him directly.

"Mr. Jones thanks for meeting with me here. Is Jones even your real name or is it an alias like Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown? Of course if it was an alias, you probably wouldn't tell me anyhow. Forget I asked," Wade said.

"Are you ever at a loss for words, Mr. Collins?" Jones asked.

"Only when I'm sleeping. Or eating. Or giving head," he replied.

Wade's eyes drifted to the exotic dancers onstage. There was a row of girls in white satin. One blonde particularly caught his eye. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place from where.

"I trust you've brought proof your assignment was completed?" Jones asked.

"Are you gonna grade me on it? Because I need to keep my 4.0 or I lose my Dean's List status of rankings on world's greatest assassins," Wade said, sliding a small box to the man.

The box contained a fingertip from his latest kill. Jones brought out a small scanning device. He applied it to the dismembered finger, no doubt checking to see if the fingerprint was a match. Ah, the miracles of modern technology.

Wade looked at the blonde again, trying to figure out how he knew her. She was wearing a white corset top, a thong, and sky high boots stuffed with more money than most women make in a week. Her body was a cross between a model with legs that go on for miles and an aerobics instructor.

Her face was just as easy on the eyes. It was an intriguing mixture of aristocratic mixed with slutty. She looked a lot like the coke whore played by Michelle Pfeiffer from that Al Pacino _Scarface_ movie. He would like for her to say hello to his "little friend." Well, 6 and a half inch friend. He measured once.

As he thought that, she looked directly at him, making a face. She couldn't have heard him, could she? Her expression changed to one of recognition. Finally it hit him where he knew her from.

"Skinny little Nancy Callahan. She grew up. She filled out," Wade muttered out loud.

"Excuse me?" Jones asked, as he slid a briefcase full of money under the table to Wade.

"It's a Frank Miller "_Sin City_" reference. Oh wait, I'm a Marvel character. I'm not supposed to mention DC comics," Wade said.

"Our transaction is complete. Mr. Fisk will have me contact you with your next assignment," Jones said.

"Thanks. We'll do lunch. Break a leg. Don't get arrested," Wade replied as he took the briefcase and headed to the stage.

He walked to the blonde, who was staring at him and smiling.

"Emma Frost? Is it really you?" he said to her.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 1

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated T for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Author's Note: In the comics, Emma Frost actually was an exotic dancer at the Hellfire Club. I'm not making this up.-)**

**Central Park**

"So what are you in the mood for? Russian, Italian, Middle Eastern, pretzel, hot dog?" Jason Stryker asked.

"I was thinking a redhead, but I'll settle for a hot dog vendor," Victor replied.

They both walked to the closest "New York's Finest Kosher Dogs" cart. Creed had never seen a vending cart that wasn't "New York's Finest." He ordered an extra large Kielbasa with ketchup and mustard from the overweight owner.

"I'll have a beef frankfurter with mayo and pickles, a large Diet Coke, and all the money in your cash register. On second thought, just give me the larger bills. I don't want to strain myself carrying it," Jason said.

"Absolutely sir," the owner said with a soulless voice as his eyes glazed over.

Creed and his new mentor approached the nearest seat. Jason was about to sit down. Creed's lip curled in distaste.

"I wouldn't do that. A homeless person peed on it," Victor said.

Jason quickly straightened up, and they both went to another seat. Victor finished his meal in two bites. The kid struggled to eat the tip of his.

"So, where is your dear old dad? Is this job going to require travelling? Because I charge extra for that. Not that money seems to be a problem for you," Creed asked.

"My sources tell me he's at a high security military base in Tarrytown, not too far from here. Rumor has it he's putting together a new Team X."

"I guess he didn't learn from past mistakes. Didn't he get court-martialed for killing some top brass?"

"He had a really good attorney. Someone from Wolfram & Hart," Jason said.

"So how did you get out of the ice cube and off Three Mile Island?"

"Easy enough. The nuclear meltdown thawed me out. I got pulled out with the other survivors and sent to a hospital to be treated for radiation sickness. When I healed I hypnotized the right people and walked out of the quarantine," Jason said.

"Do you remember anything from when you were frozen?" Creed asked.

The kid got a haunted expression on his face. He took another bite from his hot dog and looked away for a moment. He took a deep breath and locked his unnatural eyes on Victor's.

"Did you see the movie _The Empire Strikes Back_?" he asked.

"Is this going to turn into some geeky analogy comparing yourself to Luke Skywalker and your father to Darth Vader?" Victor asked sarcastically.

"No, I'm making an analogy to Han Solo's fate. Did you remember when Han Solo got frozen in carbonite, and it meant he was supposed to feel frozen for 100 years? When I was cryogenically frozen, I was still conscious the entire time. I could hear everything going on around me, even people's thoughts. I felt like I was drowning for an entire year, only instead of my lungs being choked with liquid, they were filled with ice. The kind so cold it felt like I was on fire from the inside out. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't dream. I had no power. And all because my own father did this to me. I want to make him pay for every single goddamn moment of my suffering, and from your reputation you're the only one sadistic enough to help give him what he deserves."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Jason was staring at him with a crazed look. Creed could hear his heartbeat accelerating to inhuman levels.

"If it makes you feel better, my father tried to pull my fingernails out with pliers when I was a kid. My fangs too. He was drunk at the time. He was drunk a lot. Lucky for me they grew back, what with my healing factor and all," Creed said.

"Is this the closest you get to real bonding?" Jason asked.

"I guess. I haven't threatened to kill you…yet. That's as warm as it gets from me," Victor said.

"So, ways to torture my dad. Let's brainstorm," Jason said as he smiled again creepily.

**The Hellfire Club**

"Wade Wilson, long time no see. This place is supposed to be exclusive. How did you get in?" Emma asked with a sly grin.

"I've got connections. What's a rich girl like you doing dancing in a place like this? Don't get me wrong, I dig the Jennifer Beals in _Flashdance_ meets Fembot vibe. And not many chicks can pull off silver lipstick without looking like a corpse, but it works for you," Wade said.

Emma got down on her hands and knees and crawled towards him. Wade didn't know if he should look at the cleavage that was spilling out of the top of her corset or the smoldering expression on her face. _Dear Penthouse: I don't normally write letters like this._

"Do you want a private dance in the Champagne Room? It's the only thing I'm allowed to leave the stage for before my shift is over," she said, looking at her watch.

He saw she had a Rolex covered in diamonds on her wrist. Her voice sounded like she was asking a question. In his head, it felt like an order.

"Normally I prefer an audience, but I might make an exception. How much do you charge?" he asked.

"Darling, if you have to ask, you can't afford me," she said.

He thought of how much trips to 'Champagne Rooms' had ended up costing him in the past. Mob-owned strip clubs were bad enough, but this place probably charged $1,000 for a bottle of the house wine. He also thought of the money in the briefcase.

"You can afford me," she said, smirking.

Emma swung her high-heeled legs off of the stage and grabbed his hand. She led him through the crowd. Wade saw several men in tailored business suits looking at him with envy.

"Hey is that Tony Stark over there talking with Gordon Gekko and Donald Trump?" Wade asked.

"Donald Trump? Are you kidding me? We have standards here," she replied haughtily.

They approached a hallway. A guard that looked like a bouncer stood in front of a door. Wade could tell he was packing a .45 Magnum under his blazer.

"My client would like a bottle of the Chateaux Laffite-Rothschild, and a fruit basket. We'll be in here for awhile," she said, winking.

Wade hadn't been interested in either until she said so. She seemed a lot more…persuasive than when he had originally known her. Persuasive in more ways than one.

The room was luxuriously appointed. Everything was a rich velvet shade of red, gold, or orange. The color of hellfire.

Wade cautiously lay down on a huge tufted couch. He felt like he was in a psychologist's office. _Tell me about your mother. Tell me about your father. Tell me about little innocent girl next door Emma Frost who you helped keep as a prisoner. _ _And how does that make you feel?_

"Does this feel weird to you? This feels weird to me. Six years ago I was a glorified prison guard for Colonel Stryker's psycho Dr. Frankenstein wannabe mutant concentration camp and you were the snotty little virginal teenaged rich girl in Cell Number Nine I used to throw ice water on every morning," Wade said.

"Nothing feels unusual to me, if the price is right. We all grow up sometimes. Except, obviously, you. Just lie back," Emma said as she opened the briefcase and smiled at the money inside. She unzipped one of her thigh high boots and started stuffing the bills inside.

"Wow, you really turned out to be a real whore. Not that I'm in a position to criticize. I mean, I murder people and blow shit up for a living."

Emma stopped counting the bills and froze.

"This is blood money, isn't it," she asked, frowning.

"I think the blood was laundered out first. I sometimes feel regret about my career, but it's so much fun. I do feel bad about killing people that laugh at my jokes. Everyone else can rot. And for what it's worth I'm sorry about everything I ever did to you. Stryker lied to me about everything. He said he'd cure my cancer. All that motherfucker really wanted was power over you guys to make up for how much he fucked up with his own son. He told me Victor Creed escaped from him and that if I submitted to all of those experiments he'd send me to find Victor and kill him. It turns out he had Victor working for him the whole time," Wade rambled.

"You really do feel sorry," Emma said softly.

He watched her zip her boot up and shut the briefcase with whatever money was left in it. She looked at the door in anticipation. Emma then straddled him. Immediately afterwards a loud knock shook the room.

"You can come in. No one's coming yet," she shouted.

A waiter came in and brought a bowl of fruit and a chilled ice bucket filled with the champagne. He quickly left silently. Emma got off of Wade and strode towards the food and drinks.

"What are you in the mood for," she asked.

"Do you really want to know? Is the rating on this going up to an "M", because it would be nice if you actually took your top off. It's like a PG-13 movie where there's a scene in a strip club, and the actresses don't even take their padded bras off. What's the point?"

"I was talking about the food and drinks," she said.

"Well, I can't get drunk anymore. It's a side effect of the healing factor I was infected…I mean injected with. But I'm paying so I might as well have a glass. I guess I'll have some fruit," he replied.

"I just had a brilliant idea. Since the enemy of my enemy is my friend, what's say you and I team up to give Colonel Stryker his just desserts. I've got the brains. You've got the brawn. We've both got the looks. Let's make lots of money," Emma said.

"I don't know Frost. I'm a little tired of people trying to manipulate me. How do I know I can trust you?"

Emma spread her legs pornographically wide for him. She took an apple from the tray and bit into it. She then leaned forward, making her cleavage look even bigger as she handed the apple to him.

"Do I look like a woman who would try to trick you," she said, winking at him.

**To Be Continued **


	3. Chapter 3

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 3

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Author's Note: What the hell, I'll make it an "M". There's smut/erotica later in this chapter. Malcolm Colcord is a character from the comic books. Christoph Nord and David North are actually the same character in the comic books, but since it's a different name and Nord is a blonde German as opposed to the movie verse's Korean character I thought it would be a good fit without having to venture into OC territory. **

**The Outskirts of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning**

Colonel Stryker stared through his binoculars at the distant school. Several strange-looking individuals were walking from one building to another. One looked like a blue Abominable Snowman; another was a bald man in a wheelchair who was flanked by a younger man with a visor that made him look like a Cyclops. A redhead in black leather was the only one that looked relatively normal.

"It's disgusting. Hiding in plain sight as a school for 'Gifted Children.' Gifted my ass," he said, handing the binoculars to man in a suit and glasses next to him.

"To think Professor Xavier has the nerve to use this place as a tax write-off. Fucking Mutants." Director Malcolm Colcord sneered, taking the binoculars.

"Vith all due respect sir, mutant vithin hearing distance," a third man chimed in.

He was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and spoke with a slight Eastern German accent.

"Director Colcord didn't mean anything by it, Christoph. He was referring to mutants like them, not to good loyal soldiers like you. Weren't you Malcolm?" Stryker said, seething.

The truth was Stryker didn't like mutants either. He had enough common sense to hide that in front of the ones he could use. Christoph Nord was one of the few successful recruits he had.

"Of course. I don't question that you value your duty to adopted country over your own species. Except it's rather ironic. No matter how many of your own kind you capture or kill for Team X, there's always going to be one left. You," Colcord said threateningly.

Stryker took the binoculars back from Colcord and flashed him a dirty look.

**The Hellfire Club**

Emma Frost handed the apple to Wade Wilson. He certainly wasn't her typical "client". She was used to older, powerful, alpha male captains of industry, with a sprinkling of closeted mutants or costumed vigilantes.

_"Damn! No wonder IGN voted her Hottest Comic Book Babe!" _she overheard him thinking.

She couldn't decide if her ability to read minds was a blessing or a curse. It came in handy to hear when people were lying to her. In this city, that was more often than not. The downside was the more she overheard what dark secrets lurked in the hearts of men and women, the more she came to hate the collective mass of them. Paradoxically, the gift that brought her closest to people drove her furthest apart.

Wade's thought processes were definitely unique. He obviously had more than a touch of insanity to him. There wasn't much difference between what he thought and what he said out loud.

"I have a hard time trusting people. Of course if they pay me enough, I stop caring. What do you have in body…I mean mind?" Wade said.

"I've, shall we say, overheard things. Like how Colonel Stryker is in New York State. He's targeting that god-awful school for mutant pacifists run by Professor Charles Xavier. He tried to recruit me years ago. Right about the last time you and I saw each other," she said.

She felt a wave of guilt coming off of Wade. Emotions were easier for her to read than thoughts.

"Does it seem weird that everyone ends up in New York? Why not South Beach or Ibiza or Disneyworld? It's like on TV, every show is set in New York or LA. I guess it's because the writers all live here. Speaking of the last time we met, I wasn't intentionally trying to kill you and the other captives. Stryker had me hooked up to a computer. I didn't have any choice. I vas just following ze orders. Oh, are Nazi references too low, even for me?" he said, segueing into a German accent.

"I knew you were fighting it," she said.

"How did you know? Ohmygawd, you're a mind reader. You've heard everything I've thought in front of you tonight!"

_"OK. Think pure thoughts. I'm thinking of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Think pure thoughts. Don't think about how I peed in the shower this morning. Shit! She just heard me. Wait a second, I'm in a strip club, I'm supposed to have dirty thoughts, otherwise I'm wasting my money. Are those real or silicon? One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand. Has the couch I'm sitting on been cleaned, because Lord knows how many guys and a few women have cum before me on this exact spot. Am I sitting on herpes or syphilis?" _

"You heard that entire last paragraph, didn't you?" Wade asked.

"Don't worry. As soon as most people learn I can read and control minds, peeing in the shower is one of the first things that pop up. And for the record: they're real, and they are spectacular," she said as she unhooked the corset she was wearing.

Emma usually didn't even touch the men she brought back for "private dances". She used mind control to make them believe she had. Then she convinced them to wire all of their money to her Swiss bank account. Some days she loved this job.

Emma was loving her job more than usual tonight. She had grown up with a reputation for being an untouchable ice queen, and with good reason. She had been a late bloomer when it came to sex. Her first instinct was to keep people out, not let them in, especially not literally. When she finally lost her virginity, she found she enjoyed the sense of power it brought her more than the act itself.

"You know the rules. I can touch you. You can't touch me," she said, reciting the story of her life.

She wrapped her thighs around Wade. His body felt natural underneath her. His eyes were perfectly aligned with hers. They were a rich milk chocolate color, filled with a mixture of mirth and pain. She closed her own eyes and started to grind against him, slowly and then faster.

"Wait. Don't do this. I mean, I want you to do this. I don't want you to stop. Please don't ever stop. But I don't want to be 'work' to you. I don't want to be just another paying customer. I've done this before from your end. After I got kicked out of my house and before I got kicked out of the military the first time and lived on the streets I had to do the 'survival sex' and I know what that feels like. I don't want you to just go through the motions pretending to be someplace else and not even paying attention to me," Wade said.

Emma paused for a moment. This wasn't the reaction she was used to getting. She had met a few men who had offered to "save" her, to get her out of this business. When she read their minds their motives turned out to be more about their own egos than any altruism.

"Darling, if I didn't want to do this, I would just hypnotize you into thinking we were finished already," she said.

"Gee, I never thought of that. Coolness! Keep going then, but a little to the right more. But if you can read my mind you should already know that," he said.

"Shut up Wade," she said as she started to gyrate into him again.

"Aren't dominatrixes supposed to wear black? Don't get me wrong, white is great on you. It really brings out the color of your…nipples. I'm shutting up now, really," Wade babbled.

"_If you can hear this, you know how much I want to kiss you. Just let it happen, lean forward, open your mouth, slide into me, let me slide into you, touch me, feel me, do it_," Wade thought.

Emma leaned forward and whispered in his ear: "I don't kiss and I don't fuck…on the job."

"When can I get you off after work?" he whispered back.

"_If you're in my mind why can't you let me in your body, mind, and soul_? _Let me in. Let me in you know you want to. Let me. Let it happen. Let me worship you. Worship me back," _he thought.

"I can't," she panted, as she rode him harder and faster, feeling the effect she was having on him between her legs and in both of their minds.

"_Can I get you off now_," he thought.

"I'm close," she said.

"_I'm closer_," he thought.

Emma pushed him down on to the couch and positioned herself so her most sensitive place was pressed right up against him. She moved for her own pleasure, not his, the opposite of what she was used to doing when she danced. They were both beyond dancing now. People called it "dry humping", but there was nothing dry about this. She felt like she was soaking from the sweat that dripped off of her, melting from the body heat between the two of them. She felt she was wet from something else between her legs.

Wade was gasping and moaning underneath her, grabbing the couch because she wouldn't let him touch her the way he really wanted. She could feel it in her mind as she made him come. She didn't know where his orgasm left off and hers began; only that it was a blissful release. Some days, she loved her job.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Chapter 4

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 4

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Author's Note: More character development and erotica.**

**Jason Stryker's Penthouse, Mid-Town Manhattan**

Jason opened the door to his expansive penthouse co-op.

"Hi Victor. Welcome to my…"

Victor Creed shoved him aside as he entered.

"Where's the food?" the bigger man said as he lumbered past him and headed to the kitchen.

"…Humble abode," Jason finished, talking to thin air.

He followed behind Creed into his oversize, yuppified, stainless steel kitchen space. He saw Creed sniffing the air like an animal. He walked to Jason's refrigerator and opened it. It was empty, save for some light beer he was too young to drink but hypnotized his way into possessing.

"Don't you have anything to eat?" Creed growled impatiently.

Jason watched him grab a can of beer and drink it in one gulp. He was wearing a tank top, and his biceps bulged as he crushed the can and tossed it away. Even through his rudeness, there was something strangely charismatic about him. Jason felt a flicker of envy.

"Do you know how many people in this city have $30,000 kitchens they never even use because the restaurants are so good? I just order takeout or hypnotize my neighbors into cooking something for me. Pick a dish, any dish. There's a great Italian woman downstairs that makes the best pasta al dente. A sous chef from Lutece lives in Apartment 304-A. There's an Indian family in 607-B, but they use too much curry," Jason said proudly.

"Just being me meat and potatoes. The rarer the better," Victor said.

Jason put his fingers to his forehead. He concentrated on the Fratelli family in 708-A. He commanded them to bring up 2 rare filet mignons with baked potatoes. He saw Creed looking at him with interest. Was the tough as nails mercenary finally impressed?

"It'll be ready in 25 minutes," Jason said, smiling.

"When you put your fingers to your head, does that actually make your power work?"

"No, but it looks cool when I do it," Jason said.

"Actually, it makes you look like a bigger dork than usual," Creed replied.

Jason was getting pissed off. He finally had someone he could show off to, and all he got back was attitude. To add insult to injury, it was a blue-collar, animalistic attitude.

"People reap what they sow. You could at least attempt to be a little more polite to me. Treat others like how they want to be treated," he said.

"I'm a country boy. Really country. And I'm better at kicking ass than kissing it. You want to know what bugs me about you kid? You think you're better than me. You think because I'm muscle I don't have a three digit IQ. Your father made the same mistake. I know you don't want to act like him, do you Stryker Junior?" Creed said sneering and baring part of his fangs.

Jason knew he was trying to manipulate him. He was good at dishing things out, but not taking them. Pulling people's strings was his job

"I'm not asking you to kiss my ass. I do admire you Mr. Creed. My powers are all illusions, but you're the real, raw deal. And I'm not like my father. We aren't even the same species," Jason said smiling on the outside, but seething on the inside.

Thankfully, the doorbell rang. Jason quickly excused himself to answer it. Mrs. Fratelli was outside with a zombified expression on her face. He thanked her even though he didn't really need to and brought the food in.

"Do you have a dining room table? There's practically no furniture here." Creed said.

It was true. Despite having square footage most New Yorkers would kill for, the place was empty except for a $4,000 television set, a waterbed, a few bean bag chairs, a computer, and cabinets filled with "action figures" and comic books.

"I just eat on the floor. I don't really need much furniture. If I have company over I just hypnotize them into seeing whatever décor impresses them the most. And I thought you were 'country.'"

"I may be from the country; it doesn't mean I wanna stay there. I'm too big to eat on the floor."

"So pull up a beanbag," Jason said dismissively as he set out their cutlery.

Creed settled into one of the blob-like cushions. He sat with his legs spread out and his hands looped into the side of his fatigue pants. He still towered over Jason as he split the meal between two plates.

Jason felt like he was being stared at. He looked out of the corner of his eye and caught Creed staring at his neck. The tips of his fangs glinted in the dimming light. Suddenly, allowing one of the few mutants on the entire planet resistant to his mind control didn't seem like such a bright idea. Jason gulped. Creed licked his lips slowly. It reminded him of the posters for the _Rocky Horror Picture Show_. He quickly handed the plate to him and scooted away.

"It's about time. I was getting hungry enough to eat a goat," Creed said, as he tore into his steak, ripping it in half with one movement.

**Wade Wilson's Apartment, Hell's Kitchen**

Wade Wilson led Emma Frost into his apartment. He was insecure it wouldn't be good enough for her. She was a lady of expensive tastes. He got insecure a lot, but she probably already knew that.

It was small, just a one bedroom. As a single man, he didn't need much space. Even though being a mercenary paid well, he tried to stay under the radar with his expenses.

"Would you believe this glorified closet is $3,000 a month? And they can't even get rid of the cockroaches. They say if there's a nuclear war the only thing left will be cockroaches. That and the Golden Girls" he said.

"Real estate is rather outrageous here. When I first came to the City I had to live on the streets because I literally couldn't afford anything," she replied.

"You, homeless? Your rich daddy didn't even help?" he asked.

"My father didn't take me coming out as a mutant very well. He tried to have me institutionalized. He eventually offered to reinstate my trust account, but there were strings attached. I don't like strings. I never want to be dependent on anyone again. Plus I always blamed him for not trying hard enough to find me when I was a captive on Three Mile Island," she said.

"How did you survive?" he asked.

He thought of his own poverty-stricken adolescent rebellions, and the horrible things he had to do in pursuit of a dream of "independence."

"I hustled people in card games. No one has a 'poker face' around a telepath. I sold aspirin as hard drugs and hypnotized buyers into thinking it was the best high of their life. I danced and I pawned things."

"If you can turn your skin into diamond, did you ever try to slice a little off and pawn that?" Wade asked.

"Actually yes. Unfortunately as soon as it left my body it returned to normal," she said showing him her finger.

There was a small scar on it. It was white and ragged, even paler than the English cream color of her skin. He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed it.

"Did you hate your father that much?" he asked.

"Yes, but I hated myself more," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

Emma quickly stood up and turned away. He noticed she did that whenever he got too close. Melting and refreezing was a pattern with her.

"Aren't you going to show me your Deadpool costume?" she asked.

"It's not a costume, it's my work uniform," he said.

"Yes and little boys don't play with dolls. They play with 'action figures,'" she said.

He got up and walked to the bedroom closet. He pressed a hidden button and a secret panel opened. He pulled out the red and black outfit he wore during missions and showed it to her proudly, like a child showing off his baseball card collection.

"It looks just like Spiderman's outfit," she said.

"It does not. His has spider webs and mine doesn't. I've met Spiderman a few times. He doesn't like me. I think he's jealous because I'm funnier than him."

"Or because you kill people and he rescues them?" she asked.

"Well, that too," Wade said grudgingly.

She gave him a look that implied she could feel his guilt. There were no secrets with her. On his end at least.

Emma sat down on his bed. He realized this was the first time she'd ever been in his bedroom. She smiled at him. She probably heard his thought.

She had on one of her innocent little schoolgirl outfits of a tight white sweater and short flirty skirt. My how appearances could deceive. She slowly lifted the skirt to reveal she was wearing a white garter-belt and stockings underneath. She beckoned to him with her finger in a "come here" motion.

"Talk to me," she purred.

Wade grinned and leapt towards her eagerly. He knelt down between her legs, spreading her knees apart. He heard her moan.

"I want to do things to you that are illegal in 27 states. They call me "The Merc with the Mouth" for more reasons than one," he said, tugging at the thin layer of white lace that separated her from him.

She slowly slid her tight sweater off, keeping her eyes locked on his. She reached back to undo her bra. Her breasts fell out. He'd seen them before of course. Hell, she took her clothes off for a living.

"I don't want this to be just another job for you," Wade said, as he took his own shirt off, with admittedly less precision than she did.

"Does it feel like you're just a job to me," Emma said, grabbing his hand and placing it on her mound.

She was wet, unbelievably wet. The hair below her waist was a silvery blonde color that left nothing to the imagination. He'd known so many platinum blondes with jet black bikini lines, seeing someone natural was shocking. He started to thrust inside of her with one finger, and then two.

"_Farther up,"_ he heard in his mind, although her lips didn't move.

He fondled her closer to her clit, massaging her. Emma put her hands around his head and pulled him closer to her. They started to kiss.

"_More lips, less tongue_," he heard in his mind, but her own lips continued to kiss him.

Wade felt like he was having a threesome in a way, with one woman in his head and the other in his arms. The one in his mind was whispering what to do next to her. The one in front was grinding herself against his fingertips, faster and faster. It was like getting "phone sex" and "real sex" simultaneously.

"_I think about you when I dance for other men. I'm more convincing when I'm excited, and you excite me more than anyone I know_," he heard in his head, but she never took her tongue away from his.

Wow, she paid attention to him even when he wasn't in the room. She really knew how to stroke his ego. He needed her to stroke something else.

A moment later she slid her hands down his pants and grabbed his erection. He kissed her in a row from her mouth, down her throat, and to her stiffened nipples. He thought of how he wanted her to grab him, but never stopped kissing her. She immediately responded, licking her own fingers and using that to make her hands glide over him faster.

"_Fuck me_. _Do it. Lie down and fuck me, right here, right now_," he thought.

"_I can't. It's too soon_," she thought back.

"Fuck me," he said out loud.

He needed to hear his own voice. He needed her to hear it. He needed her to feel his need, his growing addiction.

"Soon, but not yet," she gasped as she squeezed him harder.

They sighed together, in his mind and out loud. Soon couldn't come fast enough.

**To Be Continued**


	5. Chapter 5

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 5

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Hellfire Club**

"I am not dancing naked in a cage. This is not what I signed up for," Emma Frost said indignantly to the club's partial owner and manager, Edward Buckman.

"Look doll, we have to be competitive, and that means keeping up with the other adult entertainment businesses in the area. We have to compete with VHS and this new internets thing. The club needs to go totally nude to keep afloat, but the local ordinance says we can't have full frontal and serve alcohol in the same room. That's where the cages come in," Edward condescended to her.

She overheard him think, "_I hate when these bimbos get uppity_."

Emma noticed several people were staring at her, including the other dancers and another partial owner named Sebastian Shaw. She normally would have tried to use mind control, but needed to be careful under such close scrutiny.

"Edward, I have a degree in business. I'm fully aware of the need to maintain market share. But there are other loopholes. Many clubs in cities with similar laws simply have the dancers wear pasties, or spray the talent with clear plastic so they're not breaking the rules. Our niche is cross-marketing to an upscale clientele, plus in case you've forgotten, 30% of our membership is female. I don't think something as degrading as cage dancing would appeal to them," Emma said.

"I don't pay you to think, honey. Now either you learn your place among the big boys, or I take you off the schedule, including for our Annual Gala. There are plenty of girls younger and prettier than you desperate to take your place," he threatened.

Emma felt herself getting angry. When she got angry her telekinesis acted up. It was still a power she hadn't been able to control. The glasses at the bar started shaking. She noticed the small audience that had gathered around them looking anxious.

"Fucking subways. I should go to City Hall and get them rerouted. Oh wait, Hellfire owns City Hall. It shouldn't be a problem," Edward said.

Emma took a few deep breaths and stated calmly to Edward: "I understand your position. I don't like to play the 'poor me' card, but I have legitimate reasons for not feeling comfortable with this new…career requirement. I was kidnapped in my teens and held for a year in a cage. I still have post-traumatic stress disorder. I'd love to keep working here and appreciate the opportunities. Perhaps I can work as a dealer in the gaming section, especially on the night of the Gala?"

She overheard him think, "_Hmm, this bitch in a cage. Sounds pretty hot_."

She used her mind control to get him to agree with her. She watched him staring at her suspiciously. He took a puff from his illegally imported Cuban cigar.

"Fine. But you better have a note from a shrink no later than next week. And by the way, if you ever caught _Sesame Street, _"C is for cookie', it's not for bra cup sizes here. If you want to stay long-term, the twins are going to have to go up to at least a 34-D. Here's a number for our plastic surgeon of choice. You get a dancer discount, but the rest comes out of your paycheck," he said as he walked away.

Emma seethed. Win one battle, lose another. She started to leave the room, but Sebastian Shaw grabbed her arm. The move was insistent, but smooth.

"I'm impressed. You handled that well and have some pretty good business sense," he said.

"Thank you sir. Is there any chance I could get a look at the guest list for the upcoming gala? If I'm going to be working the gaming tables it would be helpful to know which people will be there so I can cross-reference with what their card games of choice are."

Emma was lying through her teeth. As a mind reader she had never intentionally lost anything involving strategy. She just wanted to see whose brains she would be able to pick.

"I admire your foresight. I'm a big believer in promoting from within. We should talk someday soon. I have a rough draft of the list," he said handing her several pages.

She scanned his mind to see if his intentions were as business-oriented as he claimed and heard him think: "_This one's sharp. She may be a good recruit for the takeover_."

She was dying to ask more, but knew she couldn't without arousing his suspicions. Instead she thanked him and scanned the list. One name caught her eye: Director Malcolm Colcord. She knew from overheard thoughts he was the new Director of Team X, which would make him Colonel Stryker's boss. Emma smiled to herself. The Gala was going to be an interesting evening indeed.

**Jason Stryker's Penthouse **

"I ain't wearing a tuxedo. Pompous ceremonies aren't my scene," Victor Creed said.

"It's the dress code. And it's too much of a waste of my energy to use my powers to make it look like you have a tuxedo on all night long. Maybe you can find one that fits at a "Big and Tall" store. I'm hypnotizing for it," Jason said.

"Where will you get yours: the 'short and annoying' section of the little boys department?" Creed said.

"Mine's Armani or nothing at all," Jason replied in his usual snotty way.

"Tempting. Have you ever bought and paid for anything on your own in the past half-decade?" Creed asked.

"No. Why should I? I can just get what I want simply by asking. Mental gifts have their privileges. Are you jealous of me yet? You wouldn't want to trade places if you could for a day? Brains over…admittedly impressive brawn? "

Victor looked around the vast apartment. It was flashy on the surface, but empty. That seemed to sum up Jason Stryker to a "T". He thought about it for a few moments.

"Maybe for a day. But I'd rather be a carnivore than a parasite. I'd rather suck the marrow out of someone's life and have one good kill than feed off of others a little at a time," Creed replied.

"Parasites have the advantage. A carnivore only gets the thrill of the kill once before destroying its prey. A parasite gets to enjoy our unwitting hosts for all they're worth for as long as we want," Jason said.

"And you want to suck off of the wealthy and elite. But the Hellfire Club's Annual Gala is only open to the most powerful people in America. How did you get a hold of two tickets?" Victor said sarcastically.

"I didn't. I plan to use the same method I always do. We'll simply walk to the velvet rope and I'll hypnotize my way in. You'll be posing as my bodyguard," Jason said.

"Who would be trying to kill you? Aside from anyone that's spent more than 5 minutes with you, that is," Creed muttered the second line under his breath.

"I can't let my guard down. It'll be fun, like a casino scene from a James Bond movie. Did I mention it's also a strip club?"

"I'm in," Victor said, jumping off of his bean bag chair and walking up to a full-length mirror.

He started to check his reflection out, imagining what he would look like in a tuxedo. He was starting to warm up to the idea. Creed had never been concerned with conventional fashion, but he had over the years developed an appreciation for the power of a uniform. The first time he and his brother Jimmy had ever been treated with respect was when they first put on their army clothes. What was a tuxedo, but the uniform of wealth and power?

Creed caught Jason staring at him. It made him a little uncomfortable. It wasn't that he was afraid of the little snot. Victor assumed he was immune to his mind-fucking abilities for now. But didn't parasites have the ability to evolve and grow stronger? Did he change his mind because he wanted to, or because Stryker, Jr. had ordered him to?

**Stryker's Secret Team X Headquarters **

Stryker stood next to the hospital bed of his latest recruit. She was a mutant, from a particularly nasty group called the Morlocks. He could give the Morlocks credit for one thing: at least they looked like the monsters they truly were.

"Did the experiment work? Do I look pretty now?" she asked.

"It's too early to tell, Sarah. We have to see how your body adjusts. We don't know if your bones will start growing through your skin again," Stryker replied.

"I feel happy. If I feel happy, I must look happy. My outsides have to look like my insides. Can I see?" Sarah asked.

"That's the morphine talking sweetheart. Here's a mirror. Please don't grow a piece of your spine and use it to shatter your reflection again."

"It wasn't a piece of my spine, it was an extra femur. There are 206 bones in a normal person's body, and I've been pierced from the inside out by every…single…one of them," she said.

Stryker handed her a mirror. She weakly gripped it and looked at her reflection. Her expression was hopeful.

When she had first volunteered, she was one of the most grotesque things Stryker had ever seen. Her mutation was something out of a horror movie. Sarah's bones grew at an accelerated rate. The skin on her own face had been ripped open by bony growths, she had demonic horns on her head, and her knees and elbows were covered by pads of cartilage. Her nickname for years had been "Marrow" as that seemed to be the source of her deformity.

"I still don't look normal. I just want to be normal. You promised you'd make me normal," she said.

"So your skin is pink and your hair is a little on the purple side. It's nothing we can't fix with a little makeup and bleach. At least your rib cage isn't sticking out anymore. And you're not in pain, are you?" Stryker said.

"That's just the morphine talking. Morphine for a Morlock," she started giggling the way a schizophrenic locked in an asylum would.

"You're not a Morlock anymore. Welcome to Team X," Stryker said.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it, in his attempt to be reassuring. It wasn't something that came natural to him. Sarah looked shocked. He wondered if he'd made a mistake.

"No human has ever touched me before," she said.

Stryker didn't know how to respond. He left the room and joined Director Colcord. He'd been watching everything.

"I still don't like this, recruiting the enemy to fight the enemy," Colcord said.

"We're not strong enough to fight mutants on our own. You know the cliché: fight fire with fire. That girl is so desperate to fit in with the humanity that despises her she'll do anything I ask," Stryker replied.

"I prefer to fight fire with metal. If I can get Ed Buckman to agree to finance us on my trip this weekend, we won't need to keep making deals with the devil," Director Colcord said.

"You're just making a deal with a different devil. He's part of the Hellfire Club. Could the symbolism of the name be any more obvious?"

"You're just jealous you couldn't get a ticket in," Colcord replied.

**To Be Continued **


	6. Chapter 6

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 6

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated

**Author's Note: Much more Wade in this chapter, plus a visit from a fan favorite X-Men character **

**Emma Frost's Apartment**

Wade Wilson opened up the door for Emma Frost. She wasn't in a good mood. Plastic surgery could do that to a person.

"I can't believe I'm not supposed to lift my arms over my head for 3 more weeks. Honestly, I think that breast augmentation surgery should be limited to women whose husbands or boyfriends are willing to undergo penile implants," she huffed.

"I told you not to get them because of the cancer risk. Was that 'penile implant comment' directed at me? Because you're making me feel a little insecure here. Well, more insecure than usual," Wade said.

"I'm sorry darling. I'm just crabby from the pain. They gave me codeine for it, but my telepathy gets weakened when I'm on drugs, and I need to be sharp for the gala tonight. It just seems so unfair for women like me to be subjected to this unrealistic ideal where we're supposed to be thin but top-heavy. You have no idea what it feels like to have a doctor slice you open and sew a foreign object inside of your body to remain competitive," she said.

"Actually, I do. Remember these gifts from Stryker," Wade said as he held his hands up and ejected the two long Adamantium katana blades that had been sealed in his body from his wrists.

They hurt coming out. They hurt every single time when they came out. Stryker had promised him healing abilities and immortality, but he conveniently failed to mention the agony he'd have to feel.

"Touché," Emma said.

"_Wow, she actually didn't mind-control me into losing an argument for once_. _And she did it in_ _French too_!" Wade thought, figuring she would overhear him.

Emma looked shocked.

"Is that what you think? That I've been using my power on you this entire time?" she asked.

"Aren't you? It just seems a little too convenient that we do everything you want, that I think of you and I feel like I'm under a spell, and you're the perfect woman, a goddess. I'm not stupid,' he said bitterly.

"Do you think so little of me that you don't believe you could feel that naturally? Because I'm the one that's feeling a little insecure now. If I was mind-controlling you constantly, do you really think I'd have come to see you perform on Amateur Night at the Improv on every Wednesday night for the past month? Rather hypocritical that you didn't object to me using mind control to make the whole audience laugh at your stand-up routine," she said.

"Don't twist this around to make me feel bad for not wanting you to suck my free will away, princess. I know you're using me while it suits you. I know about those others that have been sending you gifts, like that Sebastian Shaw guy. And you can't have longer monologues than me. It's my trademark."

"It is part of my job to maintain an illusion of availability. You knew that from the beginning. And you've got a lot of nerve getting possessive. I've heard your thoughts. You're such a sucking chest wound of emotional neediness you'd be willing to sleep with anyone that pays enough attention to you."

"Thinking about something and doing it are two entirely different things, to us non-telepaths that is. I don't like how you can just invade my mind whenever you want, but I don't have a clue what secrets you're keeping from me. It's…violating," he said.

"Afraid I might hear something I won't like and run away? I've heard the voices in your head. I know the real you, and I'm still here," she said.

Wade looked up at her, trying to read the expression on her face and in her voice. The cruelty she'd flashed earlier appeared to have softened into real tenderness. Why did women have to be so damn complicated? And men weren't complicated enough.

"You haven't heard any voices that say: 'Stop me before I kill again', or "Ki...Ki…Ki...Ma…Ma…Ma" or 'Mother-m-mother, uh, what is the phrase? She isn't quite herself today. She might have fooled me, but she didn't fool my mother. Mother! Oh God, mother! Blood! Blood!'...yet?'" he asked.

"Are you intentionally making this difficult?" she asked.

"No, and at least I don't look like Freddie Krueger. The soap-operatic angst is getting to me though. Could you please just stay out of my head without asking my permission first?"

"A compromise that's acceptable. Look, I understand if you're a little on edge. Tonight is very important. For both of us. Without reading your mind, is there anything else I should know about?" she asked.

"My mother died from breast cancer. I was pissed you didn't listen to me. I don't want to feel like I couldn't…protect another woman I cared about," he said.

Emma took his hand in hers. She was smiling, but it was a sad smile.

"I get it. Does this also have something to do with your last girlfriend getting murdered?" she asked.

"I couldn't save Tabitha from Victor. That's when the motherfucker killed me…the first time," Wade said.

"Don't get me wrong, I hate Victor Creed as much as any other mutant that was imprisoned on Three Mile Island, but technically speaking, he didn't kill her. Stryker gave the order. I don't think Victor even knew the truth. But I haven't seen the bastard since then," Emma said.

"So if we were in a comic book now, this would be the clumsy exposition panel where there's an annoying self-promotional box referencing Uncanny X-Men Issue 274? Hey kids: Silverfox Lining Chapter 10! Go out and buy it!"

"Even with mind reading I still don't understand you sometimes. Can you please unzip me? I need to change into something a little less comfortable for tonight," Emma said, winking at him.

**That Evening, Hellfire Club's Annual Gala**

Emma stood behind the Blackjack table dealing cards to the various players. Under her guidance "the house" was having the longest winning streak in Hellfire history. Between her ability to read and control minds, and her capacity to count cards, no one stood a chance against her.

She was wearing a relatively conservative outfit by Hellfire's dress code standards. It was a Versace halter dress with cleavage cut down to her navel. Judging by how many patrons were looking at her newly enhanced chest rather than the game, maybe the temporary pain was worth it.

"Excellent work Miss Frost. You're a natural at this. But I get the impression you're a natural at a lot of things," Sebastian Shaw whispered to her.

"Thank you, sir," she replied coquettishly.

"Call me Sebastian," Shaw said.

"_I can hear and see you two_," she overheard Wade think.

Emma sighed. Between playing the game at hand, trying to listen for stock tips, keeping an eye out for Director Colcord, and babysitting Wade who was supposed to be helping, she was getting a headache. Even telepaths couldn't multitask this much.

"_Darling, it's just work. I can make you the center of my attention when the party is over, but I need you to please keep an eye out for Colcord_," she thought back, trying to keep a straight face.

"_You told me he'd stick out by wearing sunglasses at night. This place is so pretentious; half the people are in Ray-Bans. There's so much Euro trash, it's like the Right Bank threw up_," Wade thought back to her.

"_Mingle to get a closer look then…please_, try _staking out the bathrooms, everyone has to go_ _sooner or later_," she thought back.

"_Bathroom stalls are depressing. They just remind me of all the coke I'm immune to now._ _Christ I wish I could still get drunk. Hey, is that Adrien Veidt over there talking to David Bowie_?" Wade mentally rambled.

"_Shut up Wade_," she thought.

"_My lips weren't even moving_," he thought back.

Emma dealt some more cards to the people at her table. A new man had stepped in front of her. He was wearing a black bowler hat that reminded her of "_A Clockwork Orange._" He seemed vaguely familiar, but between the regular customers and famous celebrities here, everyone seemed familiar.

"Remy Le Beau is here. Are you gonna deal me in, cher?" he said.

"Cher? I'm more of a Madonna fan," she said, trying to single in on his thoughts.

"Das a Nawlins expression der love. Dis from the Cajun," he said.

Emma thought: "_What the fuck did he just think and say_", but said out loud: "Excuse me, I'm not following you."

"Hit me, I wanna play," he said.

She wanted to hit him literally. One downside to reading other people's thoughts was if she couldn't understand them, they were useless. Foreign languages were still unintelligible.

Emma dealt him in, and they played for a few minutes. She still tried to focus on his thoughts. His expression was playful, but not helpful to her own strategy.

"_Dees is de best puppies I ever seen. Is dis one single_? _All women is single to de Gambit_" she heard him think.

"Twenty one! I hit de jackpot. Where does Remy collect de winnins?" he said.

"Run that by me again?" Emma asked.

He pointed to his hand. Emma looked incredulously at his cards. They added up to 21 exactly. She had never lost before.

"But…that's impossible. I never lose," she stammered.

"Why? Is de house cheatin? Don't make Remy open a can of de whoop-ass up in here," he said.

"You can redeem your winnings in the front room," she said.

Emma dealt out the next game of cards and went back to scanning the room. She felt like she was off her game, and she didn't like it. She tried to dust off her wounded pride and go back to what she did absolutely best.

Different people's words and thoughts entered her mind: "_But enough about my last picture, what did you think of me in it…buy low, sell high…Blue Horseshoe loves Endicott Steel…Excellent to finally meet you Director Colcord! Let's go to my private office and discuss the Sentinel Program_."

Emma zeroed in on the last one and saw Edward talking to a man that matched the description of the mysterious new Team X leader.

"_Wade_, _Colcord is here and about to leave with Edward at the west doorway. Please follow_ _them_," she thought towards Wilson.

"_I dunno Emma. You've been kind of bitchy to me lately. And am I really even a mutant? I mean, my powers are man-made. I'm really more of a 'fake lake' version of a mutant, where real estate developers dig a ditch and fill it with water so they can claim they're selling waterfront property_," he thought back to her.

"_Please, I'm begging you. I'll make it up to you later_," she thought back. Now was not the time for him to get high-maintenance on her.

"_Fine. But you're making it up to me with interest_," he thought back.

**Hellfire Club Western Hallway**

Wade Wilson followed the two men in question down the crowded hallway. They kept bobbing and weaving out of sight through the crowd. He was getting frustrated.

He questioned why he was staying involved with Emma. Many times, she acted like the most compassionate, witty, accepting person he knew. Unfortunately, her mood could shift on a dime to patronizing ice queen that treated him more like an employee than an equal boyfriend. Which persona was the real her? Still, he did feel like he was madly infatuated with her, and whether that was mind control induced or not, she did make him happy.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain as someone covered his mouth and pulled him into a service entrance. He'd been so intent on following Colcord and thinking about his relationship issues, he'd let his guard down to everything else.

"Wade Wilson, no long time, no see. I thought I'd killed you already…twice. Guess the third times gonna have to be the charm," a low, throaty, familiar voice threatened.

Wade realized with horror it was his old nemesis Victor Creed.

**To Be Continued**

**Author's Note: Should I keep Gambit in, or just leave him as a cameo?**


	7. Chapter 7

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 7

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Author's Note: Violence and gore ahead**

**Alleyway Outside of the Hellfire Club,**

Victor Creed pulled Wade Wilson into an alleyway, to get some semblance of privacy for the carnage he wanted to inflict. He was startled when he'd first caught scent of his old adversary, thinking he and his brother Jimmy had beheaded him years ago. But you know what they say: if you don't actually see the body, never assume the victim is really dead.

In a twisted way he was glad to run into the motor mouthed prick. He hadn't killed in months, unless you count that mugger in Gramercy Park. His bloodlust was starting to peak again.

Creed had his hand over Wade's mouth. His claws were fully extended, and they were cutting into Wade's skin. The smell of the younger man's blood excited Victor even more.

Suddenly Wade bit down on Victor's hand, hard. Simultaneously, his captive stepped backwards while grabbing onto Victor and flipping him over. He was thrown onto his back, getting the wind knocked out of him.

"AIDS…Legacy virus…AIDS…Legacy Virus…AIDS! You got your blood in my mouth you white trash overgrown fur ball. If you infected me I'll sue you if I don't kill you in the next 5 minutes. Oh, wait, I'm immune. Never mind. I'm still going to kill you. It's chapter 7, we need some action" Wade sputtered.

Victor quickly used his catlike reflexes to turn around and face Wade in a fighting stance. He'd underestimated his opponent's strength. It was a mistake he wouldn't make again.

"Not if I kill you first…again," Victor growled.

Wade made a roundhouse punch to the right side of Victor's face. Victor caught his arm with both of his clawed hands and flung Wade through the air. He landed against a nearby garbage dumpster. Victor heard a satisfying thud.

"Dammit you stained my tux. It's a rental! There goes my security deposit. Oh, hey, are you wearing Armani? I didn't remember you being well-dressed," Wade said.

"You can't return it if it's shredded. Especially if you're bringing bare knuckles to a claw-fight," Victor threatened.

"Guess again asshole. Remember these? It's time to repay a beheading with a beheading," Wade said, grinning psychotically as two-foot katana blades extended from his wrists.

He leapt forward; flashing the blades so quickly Victor couldn't tell where one sword left off and the other began. Creed instinctively jumped up onto a neighboring fire escape. He quickly tried to move to higher ground to regain an advantage, and get away from the onslaught of Adamantium steel. He strategized if Wade's weapons were attached to his hands; he couldn't use them to climb the ladder as quickly.

"Are you running from me? Is the cat trying to escape into a tree? Here comes the fire department! Oh, hell, those were bad puns, even from me," Wade shouted from below.

Suddenly Victor felt the ladder he was climbing give way and start to slide downwards in his grip. Wade had cut a latch on it from below. Creed used the wall to do a back flip onto the ground. He landed on his feet, but felt an agonizing pain in his left shoulder a Wade impaled him.

"I gave the flip a 9.0, but you lost it on the dismount. I knew Mary Lou Retton, and you sir, are no Mary Lou Retton" Wade said.

Victor howled in agony as Wade impaled him through the right shoulder with his other blade.

"I charge extra for double penetration," Wade said winking, as he twisted both blades.

Victor roared and wrapped his claws around Wade's neck. He squeezed as hard as he could. Wade's smirk was replaced by a look of panic as he gasped for air.

"So you're immortal like me, and beheading doesn't work. Will strangling?" he growled, spitting out his own blood.

Creed's growl was replaced by another howl of agony as Wilson kicked him in the groin. He felt the younger man's foot press against him as he pushed him off of the blades and onto the floor. They were dripping with his own blood. Wade aimed both of them between Creed's legs, but Creed moved just in time to avoid their strike.

Wade's blades pierced the concrete. Victor used the opportunity to slash into his abdomen. He relished Wade's scream of agony.

Creed licked Wade's blood off of his fingernails, and felt energized. He grabbed both of his forearms just behind where the blades came out of his skin and forced him to the ground, facedown. He climbed on top of him, relishing his power. Victor pinned Wade's hands with one of his own massive hands. He used the other to slash into his back.

"Has anyone ever told you, you scream like a little girl Wilson?" he growled hungrily.

"Golly, you're so 'rough trade' Victor. Are you still a fucking pedophile? I think I'm too old for you. _Young teacher…the subject…of schoolgirl fantasy…she wants him…so badly…knows what she wants to be…Don't stand…Don't stand so close to meeeeeee_…or sit on top of me. Dude, I'm a pitcher, not a catcher," Wade mocked.

Victor slashed at him again.

"Pot calling the kettle black in more ways than one. Did you steal my girl Tabitha 5 minutes after she turned 18?"

"I'm offended. I waited 6 hours after she turned 18 for us to hit it. Except unlike you, I don't need to "hit it" literally to get excited. Maybe that's why I have a girlfriend and I'm pretty sure you don't," Wade said.

"Girlfiend? You? What is she 'Canadian,'" Victor sneered.

"Actually, she was from Toronto originally. Maybe you remember her," Wade said.

"Frost, Emma Frost. I'd be rather disappointed if you didn't remember me. Now get off my boyfriend and put those bloody claws away before I really get perturbed," a woman's voice called out.

Victor looked up at the blonde woman standing 20 feet away. She was tall and thin, with the exception of ripe cleavage spilling out of the tight, expensive but cheap looking white dress she had on. Her smell tapped into his memories. They were memories of a snotty, prissy teenager he'd captured and terrorized when he still worked for Colonel Stryker.

"Oooh, you're gonna get it now," Wade laughed hysterically underneath him.

"Shut up Wade. So, Emma not so nice to see you again. You're a lot…bigger…than I remember, But I'm still not gonna take orders from you, even if you got on your knees and begged me," he said, his eyes transfixed on her chest.

"Let me repeat myself: Get off my boyfriend and put your fucking claws away," she said.

Her voice was icy and demanding, but with real anger underneath. Part of Victor was almost inclined to obey, but he resisted. There was something…familiar about the feeling in his mind.

"Oh great, another telepath. I should've figured, what with that being your sister's ability. I'm immune to telepaths, little girl," he condescended.

He did get up, dragging Wade by his arms.

"What's to stop me from killing him right in front of you?" Victor said, grinning.

"I'm still immortal you idiot," Wade said.

Suddenly a shard of glass whooshed past Victor's face.

"I'm telekinetic too. Let him go or the next shard pierces your eye," Emma threatened.

They locked eyes in a standoff. Victor debated what to do. He was still in shock from his own blood loss, and the surprise of finding out Emma Frost and Wade Wilson were a couple. _Emma and Wade? _

"She's bluffing. She's only a level 1 telekinetic. She can't even control that ability yet. She was as surprised as you were the glass got so close. You're not the only one around here that can read minds, doll face," Jason Stryker said, stepping out into the alleyway.

Creed was in for his third shock of the night. For once he was actually glad to see the little brat. Hell was freezing over. More accurately, Emma Frost was freezing over.

"Who the hell are you? You don't even look old enough to drive," she said coldly.

"I know! I know who he is. Can't you tell by the odd-colored eyes? He's….David Bowie! Can I get an autograph?" Wade said.

"It's Colonel Stryker's son, Jason, you half-wit. We've been working together. And David Bowie is middle-aged. Even I know that," Victor sneered.

"Jason Stryker, hmm? I take it the cyanide-laced apple didn't fall far from the tree. And you're as much of an Uncle Tom as ever Creed, turning against your own kind," Emma said.

"Actually, I hate my dad as much as the rest of you do. From what I've overheard you think tonight, we're actually on the same side," Jason said.

Emma and Jason stared at each other for a few moments.

"Hey are you guys communicating telepathically with each other now? Because that's kind of rude. It's like having a conversation in a different language in front of company," Wade said.

"What, jealous because you're not the center of attention? I see you haven't changed," Creed sneered.

"He's telling the truth," Emma said.

"Put Wade down please Victor. Emma and I have agreed to join forces. We're a lot more powerful pooling our talents rather than wasting our energy on each other," Jason said.

"Don't I get a say in this? I can't stand these two," Victor said. He did let Wade's hands go.

"The feeling is more than mutual. But we've got to be pragmatic here, at least temporarily. Assuming you even know what "pragmatic" means," Emma said.

"Do you know what disembowel means?" Victor threatened.

"Do you know what katana blade through the scrotum means?" Wade smiling, pointing his now free swords at Victor's crotch.

"Ok, I'm in. I mean if Rogue can change teams…and Magneto…and Gambit…and Toad…and Scarlett Witch…and Cyclops…why the hell can't I?" Victor replied.

"What about Colcord? He's the whole reason we came today?" Emma asked.

"He already left. I heard his thoughts. But not before getting directions to his secret military base," Jason said.

"We'll team up tomorrow and strategize," Emma said.

"Are we getting a team jersey? Because I want a team jersey. I'm partial to red and black," Wade said.

"I'm a Yankee fan myself," Jason said.

"Can we call it a night before you annoy me into changing my mind about this whole thing?" Victor said.

"Fine with me. My tux is ruined anyhow," Wade said.

Victor watched as Wade put his hand on Emma's ass as they walked away. He turned his head back and gave Creed a taunting, triumphant glare.

"Can I kill Wade when this is over with?" Victor whispered to Jason.

"Fine with me. I don't care. That Frost chick is hot though. Pretty smart too. Too bad she's bitchier than a Westminster Kennel Club dog show," Jason said.

"Eh, I smelled silicon," Victor said.

"Blood is more your aphrodisiac, I take it," Jason said.

"You're very perceptive, for a mind reader. That conversation you were having in your head with Frost, what was it really about?"

"The same thing we discussed out loud: calling a truce and teaming up."

"Honestly," Victor asked suspiciously.

He still didn't trust Jason. He also wasn't 100% sure mind control wasn't involved when he'd agreed to the team up. Jason stared back at him, smiling that mysterious but condescending smile of his.

"Scout's honor," Jason said.

"I ate a Boy Scout troop once," Victor said.

"I'd rather eat a Brownie," Jason replied.

**To Be Continued**


	8. Chapter 8

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 8

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Author's Note: After a long hiatus, I'm continuing this. I stopped due to lack of reviewer interest, but was flattered by the people who encouraged me to continue. Thank you "S" -). **

**Emma Frost's Apartment**

Emma snorted a line of cocaine off of Wade Wilson's naked stomach. He did have amazing abs: sculpted and smooth. A lot of people had been gripped by the "fitness craze," to be fashionable, but at least with him, his body was as much about function as perfect form. She had admittedly been turned on a bit watching him fight Victor, even if she had needed to intervene at the end. Power was the ultimate aphrodisiac.

"I don't mean to question you…well maybe I do, but if you're a telepath, telekinetic, telephone, telewhatever and your power is in, like, your brain, should you really be using any unregulated substances that might cause permanent brain damage? And doesn't this weaken your abilities?" Wade asked as he stroked his fingers through her hair.

Emma didn't like being questioned, especially not by him.

"Darling, I can get hepatitis from eating shellfish, but I'm not about to give up shrimp cocktails. It seems rather out of character for you of all people to tell me to be responsible," she said.

"I'm irresponsible? I'm irresponsible? I'll let you know I am damn responsible. I'm just not very…mature about it. It's just that you have a gift. You have a lot of gifts. You have so many gifts you're a fucking Santa Claus, and I don't want to see you throw them away. You're getting blue lipstick on my stomach. It looks like a bruise or something," Wade said.

"You mean you don't want me to throw away my gifts because they're starting to be of use to you," she said.

"Like how you use me as your errand boy? As your muscle," he said frowning.

"It isn't 'using' if you enjoy every single moment of it. And the opposite of being used is 'useless.' I'd rather be dead than useless," she said, squeezing his biceps.

"So what's the deal with teaming up with Victor of all people? After all he did to you and your sister Kayla over the years? Are you that cold? And what's the deal with Jason Stryker? He seems creepy," Wade said.

Emma reached over and took a piece of ice from a drink she had by the side of her bed. She sucked on it suggestively. Then she slowly ran it up and down the cuts in Wade's chiseled abs.

"I think part of you likes the cold. After all, it's the best way to serve revenge. Can you please promise to keep your mouth shut about what I'm about to tell you?" she asked.

She pressed what was left of the ice cube to Wade's lips. He swallowed it, never taking his eyes off of her. She felt like a snake charmer.

"I can keep a secret. To this day, I've never told anyone about my involvement in the Watergate break-in. Oops," he said.

Emma took another ice cube out. She leaned back. She cheated just a little bit on Wade's request to only search his mind with his permission and skimmed his thoughts enough to know he was sincere about wanting to keep a promise.

"I cut a deal with Jason. He does seem to be quite the little budding sociopath. I get him access to the Hellfire Club's inner workings, he lets me bind, torture, kill, yadda, yadda, yadda Victor, but only after the four of us get rid of his father. Of course, I'll let you share in Victor's fate, after I finish using that vile alley cat for the only thing he's good for. I know how much you loathe each other," Emma purred.

Wade smiled. He was such a strange combination of childlike innocence and malevolence. He grabbed her hand that held the remaining sliver and placed it on his chest.

"You've convinced me to be as cold-hearted as you are. Keep using me as long as you want," he said as he started to kiss her.

She kissed him back as she crawled on top of him. He started to undress her urgently. The phone rang, like a fire alarm or fog horn. She grabbed for it.

"Let it go to the fucking answering machine," Wade said.

They went back to kissing again. Wade's expert hands slid down her back. The body heat between them had melted what was left of the ice and they were lying entwined on her bed.

"Hello Emma. It's Sebastian Shaw from the Club. Sorry I missed you. I'm putting together a group of very important members and I wa…" Sebastian's voice projected through the room on her answering machine.

Emma hastily picked up the phone and said: "Hi, it's me. Sorry I almost missed you."

Wade glared murderously at her. She felt jealousy pouring off of him in waves. She turned away from him.

"_It's just business_," she telepathically projected into Wade's mind.

"Are you in the middle of something? You sound out of breath," Shaw said.

"Nothing of any importance," Emma said, glaring back at Wade.

She thought of switching phones and moving out of the bedroom, but that would probably tick Wade off even more. He extended the katana blades from his hands and started to sharpen them against each other. The friction of metal against metal shrieked in her ears.

"Oh good. I was planning on having a little gathering next week. It will have 4 people, maybe as many as 6, to discuss shall we say, a change in Hellfire's leadership to a more deserving…species," Shaw said.

Emma perked up. Did he just say "species"? Was he a mutant too?

Wade's thought pounded into her head: "_Pay attention to me dammit_."

"Yes, just let me know the date and time," she said.

"Oh Emma, can you come back to bed? The handcuffs are chafing me and the KY's drying out!" Wade said loudly.

For the first time since she had reconnected with him, she thought of killing him. The room started to shake. She took a deep breath and it stopped.

"Who was that?" Shaw asked suspicion in his voice.

"No one important enough for you to know. When is the meeting?" she asked.

"Next Wednesday at 4 PM in my brownstone," he said.

"Sounds good. Thank you. Good bye," she said.

The door slammed shut behind her. No one had touched it. She must have moved it with her telekinesis.

"Are you trying to ruin my career, you bloody child?" she asked.

"I'm not stupid Emma. Borderline psychotic, yes, but not stupid. My common sense is tingling. Or maybe I just have to pee," Wade said.

"He just called about a work meeting, not a date. I wouldn't do anything to betray you. I promise," she said.

"You seem to have no problem betraying or using other people. Why should I be any different?" Wade said.

"Have I done anything to hurt you since we got together? I would never interrupt a phone call with one of your employers," she said.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to lose you. Especially not to a guy like that. I mean Sebastian Shaw isn't even hot," Wade said.

"Nothing is going on between him and me," Emma said.

In her private mind she thought: "_Yet_", but didn't project that to Wade.

"Can you blame me for being possessive? Maybe I should just be a chubby chaser or date ugly chicks, so no one else will move in on my action. Or I should try other guys again. Except men tend to cheat more than women do, so that would be even worse. I want you, Frost. I need you. I hope I haven't screwed things up with my big mouth…again," Wade said contritely.

"I'll forgive you. Just don't ever do something like this again," she said.

"Of course not. I'd get new 'material' first," he said.

"There's no need for you to be so jealous," Emma said.

"I can't help it. I have a jealous streak. I'm going to try to trust you," Wade said.

He lifted up one of his Katana blades and held it against his arm. To Emma's surprise, he sliced his own skin and started to bleed.

"But if I ever find out you cheated on me, there will be blood," he said, as the wound cleared up before her eyes.

**To Be Continued **


	9. Chapter 9

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 9

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. This is the third in a trilogy to my stories "Prey Drive" and "Silverfox Lining", but it should be able to stand on its own. Thank you for any reviews. They're appreciated.

**Emma Frost's Apartment Building**

Jason Stryker and Victor Creed climbed the steps to Emma Frost's Upper East Side apartment. Jason tried to keep pace with the larger, stronger mutant. He was already breaking a sweat. Victor wasn't even breathing hard.

They reached her door. Jason knocked. He heard the sound of a lock being turned, a chain being removed, another lock being turned, and finally a deadbolt being opened. Like most New Yorkers, Emma apparently felt she couldn't be too careful.

Emma opened the door. She was wearing a white shirt that was barely buttoned, a low-slung white miniskirt, and knee-high white go-go boots that made her taller than he was. Jason couldn't help but linger over her cleavage for more than a moment. She looked like a model from magazine teen boys would hide between their mattresses.

"Hello. Nice to see you again Emma," Jason said trying to be charming, but really sounding awkward.

"No it ain't," Victor said.

Emma gave them both a cold look, her blue eyes searching them appraisingly.

"If you're not going to even bloody attempt to be civilized Victor, you're more than welcome to sit this one out," she said.

"Did you just say 'bloody'? Cut the pretentious crap Frost. You ain't even British; you're a Canuck like me. I see you're still a frigid bitch," Victor said.

At that moment, Wade Wilson appeared in the door frame behind Emma. Together, they looked like Mutant Ken and Mutant Barbie. Wade put his arm territorially around her creamy shoulder. He flashed Victor a challenging glare, ignoring Jason completely.

"She isn't frigid to me. Is he bothering you, honey? Do you want me to kick his ass?" Wade said in a mocking tone.

Victor growled in a low rumble. Jason sensed an impending disaster. He stepped ahead of Victor.

"Time out everyone. We're all on the same side. Victor is going to behave himself. Aren't you?" Jason said.

"You don't pay me enough to be polite, kid," Victor said.

"Fine. I'll throw in a 5% raise if you watch your etiquette," Jason muttered.

"Deal. May I please come in," Victor said sarcastically.

"Yes. I see no bad deed goes punished," Emma said.

They followed her down the hallway. Her apartment didn't look like the home of a typical girl in her early twenties at all. It was impeccably decorated in shades of white and ivory, with a touch of blue. It was beautiful, but cold and not really lived-in, like a spread from "Architectural Digest."

"Ya got any beer?" Victor asked gruffly.

"Do I look like a beer drinker to you," Emma said snobbishly.

From the expanse of toned skin showing between her skin-tight top and the miniskirt, Emma looked like someone who consumed nothing besides celery sticks and mineral water. Jason sucked his stomach in reflexively. He figured it was too late to cast an illusion in her mind altering his appearance.

"Do ya got anythin' to eat then, like meat?" Victor asked.

"I have chicken breasts in the refrigerator, but they're not properly prepared yet," she said.

"It's O.K. I like it raw," Victor said.

"People get salmonella from eating raw food. When I was 5, I once ate a whole bowl of raw cookie dough. I puked so much I had to go to the emergency room. We didn't have insurance and it cost 3 month's pay. My dad was so ticked at me he broke two of my fingers, which wasn't very bright on his part because I had to go to the emergency room again. Although if you have the same healing factor I do, you're probably immune to salmonella anyhow. Never mind," Wade said.

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Alright. I'll escort you to the kitchen. Does anyone else want anything?" Emma asked.

"Fat-Free Cheese Puffs. Sure, they're not as good as the original, but I need to pretend to eat junk food every once in awhile," Wade said.

"Do you have any Dom Perignon?" Jason asked.

"I have a 1983 and a 1968 Rose Vintage. Which do you prefer?" Emma asked.

Jason had no idea what the difference was. All champagne tasted alike to him. He just requested Dom Perignon to seem sophisticated.

"I'll defer to your obviously impeccable taste," Jason said.

"1968 it will be. Follow me please Victor," she said.

She turned and started to walk away. Jason tried to read her thoughts. He wasn't used to being around other telepaths. The only other ones he'd met had been Professor Charles Xavier and an Asian girl with purple hair and a British accent.

"_Get out of my head Jason. Unless I invite you in_," Emma's thought pierced his mind.

It reminded him of what his father used to say to him. Stryker Senior had learned what it felt like when he was about to use telepathy. He said "Get out of my head," most often towards what Jason thought of as "the end" when he'd frozen him in ice.

Jason wasn't used to a woman like Emma at all. She seemed contradictory. Her appearance seemed to be all about being inviting and available, like a borderline caricature of what men fantasized about. On the other hand her demeanor was impenetrable and defensive.

Jason sat down on a leather seat across from Wade. He noticed the other mercenary staring at him. He was shining what looked like a giant sword with a cloth. The sword didn't seem to even need it. It was already blindingly bright and flawless. Jason searched Wade's thoughts

"_Should I be threatened by him? Nah, he isn't even cute and he's kind of short and I don't think he has enough money to peak Emma's interest. I want my Cheese Puffs, dammit. What's taking them so long? I'm bored already,"_ Jason overheard Wade think.

He looked away, trying not to give any sign he had heard Wade's insult.

"Dude, I want my Cheese Puffs dammit. What's taking them so long? I'm bored already. Can you turn on the TV with the remote next to you? I want my MTV," Wade said aloud.

Jason complied. A video of the Tears for Fears song: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," was playing.

"Thanks. You know what MTV really needs: More reality shows! There aren't enough reality shows on TV," Wade said.

"But it's supposed to be Music Television. Aren't they supposed to play music videos?" Jason asked.

Emma returned with Victor in tow. He had a plate with a raw chicken breast on it. It had already been bitten into. Jason tried not to lose his lunch as Victor savagely pulled chunks of it off with his fangs.

Jason put out a map he had drawn of the way to the new Team X base on top of Emma's coffee table. He had also drawn a picture of his father being gorily shot, with the words "My dad" written next to it with an arrow in the corner. He saw Victor sneer bemusedly.

"Here's my plan. We strike the night after tomorrow. I'll lead. Victor and Wade will handle any soldiers we physically meet. I'll use my illusions to make it look like we have an army, and Emma will stay in her diamond form and handle communications from the back," Jason said.

"My telepathy doesn't work if I'm in diamond form. Shouldn't we gather more information on Team X's capabilities first?" Emma said.

"Why do you get to lead us? Do you even have any combat experience?" Wade said.

"Yeah, as much as it pains me to agree with Wade on anythin', at least he and I are professionals. Have you even been in a street fight?" Victor said.

"I have plenty of fighting experience. I'm a Grand Champion at Dungeons and Dragons, and I'm in the top 97th percentile in Fantasy Wrestling," Jason said defensively.

"Look dork, you're still useless the second anyone touches you," Victor said.

Everyone else broke out into cruel laughter. Jason felt his face turning red. He used his powers to project the illusion the others couldn't breathe and channeled what he'd seen Darth Vader do in a movie. Wade and Emma started to choke.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing. I am not useless. How do you like it when you can't breathe? Can any of you do this?" Jason said.

Victor got up and grabbed Jason by his neck. He lifted him out of his chair and raised him in the air. He started to choke himself.

"I'm immune to you, remember you little prick? Don't you ever threaten me again, or I won't care how much you're payin' me," Victor growled.

He dropped Jason to the floor. Jason looked at his so-called teammates. Emma had become diamond. She looked at him with aloofness. Wade looked like he was about to run his mouth off again. Victor, his supposed bodyguard, looked full of rage.

"I'm sorry. I'll defer to your experience. We all need each other on this," Jason said.

"If I wasn't out of breath, I would so be making a random pop culture reference right now," Wade said.

"Jason's right. We all bring something unique to the table. His illusions and our mutual telepathy are important," Emma said.

"Fine. But I'm leadin," Victor said.

"I'd fight for the top spot, but I just don't want to deal with the extra responsibility," Wade said.

"We'll drive out in two days so we can scope the place out. If Victor's OK with that," Jason said, quickly adding the last part after Victor flashed him a dirty look.

"I don't care. Let's just get this over with," he replied.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Emma," Jason said.

"You're welcome. I'll walk you out," she said.

"_I take it our deal is still on to get rid of Creed? He doesn't seem very respectful to you. I hate it when employees don't recognize their place_," Emma projected telepathically to him.

"_Yes. Maybe you and the pretty boy can kill him sooner rather than later. I'm disappointed you didn't come to my defense when he attacked me_," Jason thought back to her.

"_Darling, if you want people to help you, don't psychically try to choke them first. What goes around comes around. Violence just breeds more violence. What do you think starts off cycles of vengeance to begin with_?" she projected back to him.

"_I'm more interested in being the end of the cycle. Vengeance will finally be mine. Vengeance is Mastermind_," Jason thought.

Emma smiled at him for the first time.

**Team X Headquarters**

William Stryker sat with Director Colcord and watched his recruits Christoph Nord and Marrow fight each other in practice. Their fighting styles were complete opposites of each other. Christoph was tightly controlled and favored technology and martial arts. Every move looked calculated. Marrow was all pure instinct. She fought like someone who grew up on the streets, or in her case: under them. She seemed to prefer weapons she grew out of her own body rather than those that were manufactured.

"The enhancements are working quite well on my new soldiers. Even you have to agree," Stryker said.

"Hmpf. They're a waste of money. I have a deal in place to start manufacturing Sentinel Robots. They'll take care of "The Mutant Problem" far more efficiently. These two are part of a dying breed, in more ways than one," Colcord said.

"Is that your solution? To outsource jobs to robots? Next you'll have us ship our telemarketing jobs to India or the Philippines," Stryker said.

"It's not outsourcing. It's adapting the latest technology. Anything a mutant can do a robot can do better, but with more government control and none of that 'free will' crap," Colcord argued.

"So what happens when the government wants to replace you with a computerized robot? Do you even see the irony of this? What's the real reason people are afraid of mutants? Because deep down inside, we know they're better than us. They're smarter, faster, more powerful, everything. If the projections on unchecked mutant growth are accurate, _Homo sapiens_ will be obsolete in generations. Our children will be the death of us. And you want to go out and artificially make something even more dangerous?" Stryker said.

He wasn't being manipulative for a change. He was being sincere. Something about the proposed Sentinel program scared the hell out of him.

"I'll take programmable technology over genetic freaks any day. I can tell you one area where robots are better than a human or mutant mind. Our number one target is Charles Xavier, the most powerful telepath on the planet. The robots will be naturally immune to his mind control," Colcord said.

"I already have a precaution. I created psionic blockers for all of my soldiers. Telepathy, telekinesis, and psychic illusions are useless here," Stryker said.

"Ah, but you used technology for that, didn't you? You just proved my point. I win," Colcord said smugly, and walked away.

"Asshole," Stryker muttered under his breath.

**To Be Continued**


	10. Chapter 10

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 10

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Thank you so much for any reviews. They're much appreciated-)

**Victor Creed's Garage**

Victor performed an inventory of his ammunition to prepare for the planned attack. He felt invigorated, the way he usually did when he was about to see action. Jason carried the lighter items.

"I can't believe I'm actually going through with this," Jason said.

"You ain't goin' chickenshit on me, are ya kid? I'm gettin' paid for my time no matter what," Victor said, frowning.

The truth was, Victor would have attacked Stryker for free at this point. It wasn't just a job, it was payback. He wasn't going to tell Jason that, though.

"I meant more that it seems surreal to finally be carrying this out. I've fantasized about it for so long; it's kind of strange to be living it. I guess I'm better at living in my head than in reality, though. If I say out loud 'I'm actually going to kill my own dad', it seems a lot worse than when I just daydream about it," Jason said.

"Just think about what a dick he was to you," Victor said, remembering his own abusive father.

"It wasn't all bad. We had our father-son bonding moments. It didn't go to hell until I started showing signs I was a mutant. The frozen in ice moments tend to overshadow everything else," Jason said.

"So what's the problem? You still smell…scared," Victor said.

He loved the smell of fear normally, but not from someone he was supposed to be going into battle with.

"Don't you ever get afraid of anything? Even a tough merc like you must get a little nervous before a firefight," Jason said.

Victor frowned at him. He knew better than to confide in Jason. The kid had literally scared someone to death the day they met.

"Nope," Victor lied.

The truth was, quite a few things made his heart race. Not to fit a cliché about cats, but he was afraid of water. The healing factor that protected him might not be able to save him from any brain damage that came from drowning. Beheading he wasn't sure about. True, Wade had survived it, but that may have only been because he was decapitated so close after being implanted with healing factor. He was also afraid of never having the connection with anyone that he did with his brother Jimmy. He was the only person he'd ever trusted enough to fight back-to-back with.

"Seriously? Not anything? It doesn't mean you're not a bad ass to admit you're human," Jason said.

Victor's frown grew darker. He hated the thought of being merely human. He associated it with weakness. He walked towards Jason.

"I…ain't…human," he growled.

He expected Stryker's cowardly son to back up, but he didn't. Victor took a lighter out of his pocket. He had stolen it from one of his thousands of victims.

Victor flipped open the device and lit a flame. He held it to the tip of his tongue. It burned. It burned painfully, and the stench of charred flesh filled the room. In a twisted way, he enjoyed the pain. He moved the lighter to the side, watching Jason's terrified expression as he healed in front of the boy.

"I ain't human. I'm a god. And don't you fuckin' forget it," Victor said.

He rose the lighter again, but instead of shutting it off the normal way, he pinched his fingers over the flame, extinguishing it mere inches away from Jason's face. The smell of his skin burning mixed with the smell of the younger mutant's undeniable fear. Victor smiled wickedly and walked away.

**Team X Base**

"You know, these new Sentinel robots are going to have built in mutant detectors," Colcord told Stryker.

Stryker temporarily stopped writing. He was already sick and tired of Colcord bragging about his shiny new toys.

"Good. We wouldn't want them to mistakenly attack a little old lady that's a registered voter," Stryker said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm being extra careful. The technology is so precise; it will even be able to pinpoint people who are just carrying the X-gene. I always found it strange the government allowed someone with your DNA to get so high in this program. A son who turned out to be a mutant; I can only imagine what one of the mutant detectors will pick up off of you," Colcord said snidely.

Stryker was so angry he broke the pen in his hand. The blue ink splattered onto his palm. Colcord smirked.

"Don't you dare talk about my family," Stryker said.

"I don't care what Washington says about you. I think you're a security risk," Colcord said.

"My loyalty is to my country above all else. Jason is dead. How much of a security risk could he be?" Stryker said.

_**William Stryker's House, Early 1970's**_

___"Bill, could you please talk to your son? He's been having problems with getting bullied at school. His teacher is even suggesting pushing him ahead 2 grades may have been a mistake," William Stryker's wife Peggy said._

_She put the emphasis on "your", her implication that he'd been neglecting Jason. Ever since he got back from his latest tour of Vietnam, she had been asking him not to return again. She kept talking about how he was needed at home. _

_"His grades are good aren't they? The tests showed his IQ was off the scale," Stryker said. _

_"Grades aren't everything. The teacher says he doesn't have any friends and he keeps acting out. Could you please be a father instead of a soldier for once," she said._

_"Fine," he replied._

_What could Peggy possibly understand about how hard it was to be a career military man? On the other hand, parenthood felt more difficult than leading soldiers on the battlefield. At least warfare could be studied, practiced, and controlled. Raising a child felt alien to him._

_He walked to the breakfast room where Jason was eating a bowl of cereal. He was short for his age, and his feet dangled above the floor. He looked up at Stryker with those odd eyes of his._

_"Hi daddy," he said._

_"Hello…son. I hear you're having problems getting along with the other children. What's going on?"_

_Jason finished chewing his cereal._

_"The other kids don't like me. Mommy told me if I'm nice to other people, they'll be nice to me back. I tried being nice, but they're still mean. They think I'm too little to play with them."_

_"Well, they're just jealous because you're smarter than them. People don't like it when other people are better than them at something," Stryker said._

_"Joey Sirkowski is better than everyone at kickball, and the other kids love him," Jason said._

_"Joey Sirkowski's mother is an alcoholic. When the other kids pick on you, do you show them you're upset? Do you ever hit back?" Stryker asked._

_"I say I'm mad. I tried hitting back, but it hurt," Jason said._

_"I'm going to let you know a little secret about the real world," Stryker said._

_"Like where babies really come from?" Jason asked._

_"Ahem…no. Bullies pick on people they think are weak. If you act like you're strong, they'll leave you alone. And if you act like you're strong enough, someday you will be strong," Stryker said._

_"So, something I pretend can become real? Like I'm drawing a picture? I like making pictures," Jason said._

_"Sometimes. Sometimes what people think they see is more important than what is really there," Stryker said._

_Jason smiled. _

_"It's important to have strong friends, too. If you have strong friends, you'll be stronger. Do you have any friends?" Stryker asked. _

_"I do. Mister Sinister. He only talks to me when no one else is around. He says I'm going to grow up to be special," Jason said._

_"That's nice. What do you want to be when you grow up?" Stryker said condescendingly._

_"An astronaut," Jason said._

_"Don't you want to be a soldier like me?" Stryker asked._

_"Not if I have to go on a tour of Veet-nam. Are you going to go on another tour of Veet-nam and leave Mommy and me alone again? Can't you go on a tour of Disneyland instead and take me with you? Mommy gets sad when you go. She says you love war more than you love us," Jason said._

_Stryker was getting very, very angry. He was going to have to have a little word with Peggy about what she should be discussing in front of his son. _

_"Of course I love you more. I only go to war because I'm protecting you from Communists. I'll always love and protect my family first," Stryker said._

**Emma Frost's Apartment**

"What does it feel like when you're in diamond form?" Wade asked Emma.

"Nothing actually. I don't feel pain. I don't feel impact. I sense if I'm touching something so I can at least walk and pick up objects, but that's all," she replied, trying on a white shirt and jeans.

"I figured you'd at least feel expensive," Wade said.

"I always feel cheap when I'm with you," she said smirking.

"Nah, you just always dress cheap. Speaking of which, are you really going to wear that? White isn't a good battlefield color. It makes you too much of a target. There's a reason flags of surrender are white," he said.

"Actually, red is the most eye-catching color, and your uniform is covered in it. Come to think of it, a lot of superheroes and villains wear red," she said.

"What can I say? I'm an attention-whore. Me and Daredevil, and Electra, and Spiderman. Sometimes it helps if people mix me up with those guys. Well, maybe not Electra. Except it backfired one time. The Green Goblin thought I was Spiderman and tried to kill me. I hate people that are less emotionally stable than I am," Wade said.

"The Green Goblin is actually a Hellfire Club member," she said.

"Are you serious?" Wade asked.

"Yes, but his identity is confidential. How about this?" she said, walking out wearing black.

"Better. It's New York camouflage," he said.

"Do you ever get scared? When you go into danger?" Emma asked, sitting down next to him.

"Well, my biggest fear is dying alone, but they can't exactly aim that at me on a battlefield. I used to be a lot more scared before I got the healing factor. After I lost a head and an arm a couple of times, I got a little jaded. It's hard to fear mutilation when I know everything can just be reattached. I'm afraid of losing my looks eventually, since I don't know yet if I'm going to age like a normal person. Shallow huh? Babies creep me out sometimes. And that scene at the end of Carrie where the hand comes out of the ground," he said.

"You're not even afraid of pain when you get into a fight?" she asked.

"Well, sometimes extreme pain. I don't mind a little bit of it. It reminds me I'm still alive. Are you scared? Is the uberconfident Emma Frost nervous about this?" he asked, taking her hand in his.

"Admittedly, yes. War is alien to me. It feels out of my element. Maybe I'm a seducer, not a fighter. But I don't want to play into the sexist stereotype about women being afraid," she said.

"You're out of your element because you're a civilian, not because you're a chick. Did that sound bad? I never can tell." Wade said.

"Semi-bad. When I was imprisoned by Stryker on Three Mile Island, I was afraid I was going to die there. By returning to him, I feel like we're tempting fate. This is the first time since I escaped where I'm really feeling my mortality," she said, looking away from Wade.

"Look at me," he said.

She turned and faced him, vulnerability flickering over her normally icy façade. He put both of his hands on her shoulders.

"I love you. I figured I should say that, in case either one of us dies. At least I think I love you. You could be using mind control to make me think that. But when I'm with you, I'm happy and don't feel alone, except when you act like a bitch," he said.

"That started out as what could have been one of the most romantic moments of my life and went downhill. I love you too anyhow," she replied.

"Aw, there's so much fluffy sugar I'm going into a diabetic coma. You only love me because I'm gorgeous," he joked.

"I'm shallow like that," she replied, kissing him.

**To Be Continued **


	11. Chapter 11

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 11

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Thank you so much for any reviews. They're much appreciated-)

**Author's Note: I know the story links on were screwed up for awhile, so I recommend reading Chapter 10 if anyone missed it as a result.**

**Westchester County, Near Team X Base**

Victor Creed took in the scents of the woods around him. He preferred the smell of nature to anything goddamn New York City could offer him. He breathed in the essence of fresh earth, green plants untouched by pesticides, and gunpowder. They were definitely getting close to the Team X Base.

Emma and Jason lagged conspicuously behind. Creed noticed they kept looking at each other as if they were having a normal discussion, but their lips weren't moving. He figured they were having a telepathic conversation. He didn't trust it. At least when people whispered behind his back, with his super attuned senses he could hear it. How do you eavesdrop inside someone else's head?

"You have to admit it feels like déjà vu, you and me going into battle, together again. Just like old times. I still hate you as much as I did half a decade ago," Wade rambled next to him.

Victor was getting the same feeling of annoyance bordering on murderous rage he associated with having Wade as a teammate. His brow knitted to a deeper frown, and he felt his claws lengthening.

"Well, we hated each other, but still got the job done. The more things change the more they stay the same. It is kinda ironic, goin' after our old boss. And you and Frost, how the hell did that happen? You guys detested each other when she was a captive," Victor asked.

Wade looked back at Emma and smiled. She gave him a nauseatingly sappy smile back. Jason scowled with obvious jealousy.

"We met up again at work, believe it or not. Sometimes people grow up. And Three Mile Island…did shit to people. It was a life-changing experience. I was the only one who was really on both sides: the jailers and the prisoners. I want to atone for it, for being on the wrong side, and she's a mind reader. She understands that. Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins, because of thy just punishment, but most of all because they offend thee, my God. Is that why you're here too? Atonement?" Wade said.

"I ain't done nothin' I gotta 'atone' for. I'm here for the oldest motive of all: vengeance. That and money. Jason pays well," Victor sneered.

"Emma hasn't paid me. Not in money at least," Wade said.

"When she fucks you in her diamond-skin form, do you stare at your own reflection the entire time?" Victor taunted.

"You sleep alone, don't you Creed? You've slept alone for a long, long time, haven't you?" Wade deadpanned.

"You sound like you wanna join me," Victor said.

"Oh come on Vic, let's consummate our years of homo-repressed sexual tension. I know whenever we fight that's not a gun in your pocket, you're just really glad to see me," Wade said, smiling wickedly.

Victor growled.

"Ahem," Emma interjected.

Jason just stared at them like he'd seen a car wreck.

"Oh, hi honey…sweetheart…darling…gorgeous…princess…goddess…White Queen," Wade said.

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I hate to interrupt you, but does it seem abnormally quiet around here? I normally hear background telepathic chatter, but all I'm getting beyond the 4 of us is silence. I'm concerned," Emma said.

"It could just be because we're in the wilderness, if anything in Westchester County can be considered wilderness. I get silence too if there aren't other people around," Jason said.

"And how many infiltrations have you led before, Frost? My senses ain't pickin' up on anythin' out of the ordinary. I think you're just too scared to continue and lookin' for an excuse to turn back. Typical frail," Victor said.

He figured this was why women weren't allowed in the military.

"There's a thin line between bravery and stupidity. In your case the line is clearly dotted," she said.

"Why, you snotty little…" Victor lunged threateningly at her.

Wade jumped with superhuman speed in front of her. He unsheathed his swords and glared at Creed daringly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not that I'd ever want to be you. Well, maybe for 5 minutes on Halloween," Wade said.

"Look, if Victor says it's fine it must be fine. We're almost there anyhow. We're not turning back," Jason said.

Victor noted Jason had the same crazed tone in his voice as when he'd spoken about being frozen in ice by his father.

"I feel like I'm in a fanfic version of Stephen King's 'Stand by Me,'" Wade said.

"I can see it," Victor said, gesturing to a valley ahead of them.

With his enhanced senses, he could make out the view long before the others could. Wade and Jason both took out binoculars and craned their necks in the direction Victor pointed. Jason smiled.

"We're about to cross into Mordor," Jason said.

"Yeah. Whatever. I don't speak nerd," Victor said.

"Actually, that was geek. It's a completely different dialect," Wade said.

They walked for several minutes. Victor surveyed the base. It had no windows and was one story tall. The only immediately visible door was the front, which wouldn't be his first choice for an attack. He figured the bulk of the facility was underground. A chain link fence with barbed wire surrounded it. He also smelled dogs. He fucking hated dogs.

The roof was more interesting. It looked like it was used as a helicopter landing pad. There was a small opening for a stairway.

"We'll have to come back at night. It'll give us some cover. We're goin' in through the roof," Victor said.

**Several Hours Later **

Wade was having fun already. Some of his work felt more like a game to him, with obstacles to be overcome and roadblocks to be destroyed. He approached the looming fence with a grin.

"Does it smell like Adamantium to you?" Wade asked.

Victor sniffed the air in front of them.

"Nope. I don't think it's in their budget," Victor said.

"Batter up, then," Wade said cockily, brandishing his swords like a baseball bat.

He quickly used them to cut a hole through the fence. It made a racket. He created a makeshift doorway as fast as he could. Emma, Jason, and Wade quickly followed.

"Is everythin' you do loud," Victor snarled.

"If it's too loud, you're too old," Wade said.

Victor growled. Wade thought he was growling at him, but turned and saw two German Shepherds approaching them. They started barking.

Victor leapt at one. It let loose a primordial howl, before being cut off. Victor tore its throat open with a sickening gurgle.

Emma turned to diamond. The effect was strange, as he had only seen her in that form in the light. She looked muted. Jason jumped on top of her.

"Protect me," he squealed.

At that moment, the other dog lunged at Wade, tackling him to the ground. It bit into his right arm, digging into his flesh. Wade tried to hack at it with his left sword. The Shepherd turned and bit at his left arm. Wade finally stabbed it with his right blade. It let go of him and fell to the ground, twitching.

Wade stood up and stared at it. He didn't like killing animals, especially dogs. Partially because there was no money in it, and also because something didn't quite feel right. Animals were essentially innocent.

Victor came out of nowhere and took the dog's head in his hands. He snapped its neck. It let out one last cry and was silent forever.

Victor glared at Wade with an expression of contempt. There was blood dripping from his mouth. Wade realized it was from the first animal. Victor wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand. Instead of rubbing it somewhere to clean it, he licked it the way a child would lap at a spatula with pudding or cookie dough.

"Is this were I tell a bad joke about fighting like Sabertooth cats and dogs?" Wade said.

"You can get off me Jason," Emma said.

Jason awkwardly stumbled to the ground. Wade considered kicking his ass if he'd tried to feel up Emma, but remembered when she was in diamond form, nothing really counted as "feeling." It was like attempting to have sex with a department store mannequin, which Wade had actually tried once.

"Yeah, Victor killed the puppies. He's ruthless like that. Ohmigawd, this one was named Veronica. Stryker named his attack dog Veronica," Wade said.

"The other one is named Betty," Emma said, looking at the dog's collar.

"Who gives a shit what their names are? We've made too much noise already. Let's go," Victor said.

They quickly advanced to the building. Victor took out a rope and tied it to his belt. He climbed the side of the wall, using his claws for traction. Finally he dropped the rope down to the rest of them.

"Do we trust Victor to not cut the rope on us?" Emma asked.

"No," said Wade.

"Wow, that's the shortest answer I've heard from you so far," Emma said.

"Don't get used to it," Wade said.

"I'll go first. He knows he won't get paid the second half if I don't come out alive. He needs the rest of us, even if he won't admit it," Jason said.

"Are you OK with this? I'll go last to catch you if he pulls anything," Wade asked Emma.

He reached out and touched her cheek, even though she probably couldn't even feel it. It didn't seem fair. He "felt" her 24-7.

Seeming to understand, even though she wasn't telepathic in her diamond form, Emma transformed to her normal state. It felt like she was melting in his hand, in more ways than one.

"But, then I can't catch you. It should be alright. It's only one story," she said, and she switched back to diamond.

The other three managed to make it to the top without Victor trying anything. Wade used a device to open the door on the roof. For the first time in almost 6 years, he returned to Team X.

**Stryker's Bedroom, Team X **

The silent alarm wasn't as "silent" as it could be. Stryker woke up sharply to the warning signs that security had been breached. He started to get out of bed, but Marrow grabbed him.

"Why are you getting out of bed? It's still dark out. Of course it's always dark where I came from," she said.

He tensed under her embrace. Even though she acted completely infatuated with him and grateful for the surgeries he'd provided her, he still feared her ability to randomly shoot bones from her own body.

"That's the special alarm. We're under attack," he said, carefully peeling her arms away from his shoulders.

"I get to fight for real now? I want to fight for real. Fighting Agent Nord is getting boring. I mean, he was boring before, but I want to fight someone new," she said.

"I love your enthusiasm, in more ways than one. I'm sure I'll give you a medal for it. If you'll excuse me, I need to check the monitors," he walked to a panel and pressed a button.

A row of television screens appeared. They showed various areas of the entire base. One screen in particular caught his eye. Four figures loomed into view.

He had been having nightmares about them for so long, he questioned if he was just having another dream. Victor Creed, his most vicious recruit who he had manipulated and betrayed years before appeared. Behind him Wade Wilson, the long-tortured Weapon XI experiment filled the monitor. Next was a woman who looked like diamonds, who could be none other than his former captive Emma Frost. The final figure was the most personal of all: a young man with unique blue and green-colored eyes. Although he had grown a little, Stryker knew it was his long lost presumed dead son Jason.

**To Be Continued**


	12. Chapter 12

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 12

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Thank you Fyrefly and S for your reviews-)

**Team X Headquarters, Interior Hallway**

Jason Stryker lingered behind the others as they walked through the hallway. It was partially instinct, and partially something he had picked up from his father. Hide behind the strong and let them take the hits. He also wanted to keep checking out Emma's ass. Even in diamond form she looked amazing, perhaps even more so.

Jason kept listening for the thoughts of nearby soldiers, but outside of the train wreck of Wade's permanent inner monologue, he kept coming up blank. He was slightly grateful for the relatively smooth sailing. Watching violence on TV or imagining it was one thing, the threat of experiencing it was another.

His luck was about to run out. Victor started growling again. He curled up his lip and extended his claws. Some soldiers turned a corner into the corridor. They appeared to be led by a blonde man and a woman with pink skin and purple hair. Jason put his fingers to his forehead and tried to project a vision of a small army behind him in his opponents' minds.

"You are trespassing on government property," the blonde man said, with a slight German accent.

"We were invited. I got the 5 year reunion notice right here," Victor said, raising his gun.

"Yes. Ve know who you are. Victor Creed and Vade Vilson. You are quite famous here: as cautionary tales," the German said.

"Yeah, we're Team X alumni. Just don't ask us for any donations. Unless they're lead," Wade said.

"Why would we give you lead? I don't get it," the pink-haired woman said.

"It's tough guy banter," Wade said.

"Oh. OK. Banter away. Wait, aren't we supposed to be shooting at each other now?" she said.

"Not when you're outnumbered. We have our own army," Jason said, trying to sound threatening.

The pink-haired girl started conspicuously counting on her fingers and mouthing the words to numbers. Jason noticed Victor was staring at her. He looked like he was about to drool.

"There are 4 of you and 10 of us," the blonde man said.

"You mean you can't see the 30 heavily armed guys behind me?" Jason asked, his voice squeaking.

The blonde man pointed to a device on his ear and said: "Psionic blocker."

Victor turned to Jason and gave him a look that could slaughter.

"Fuckin' useless," Creed growled.

"I could say the same about your leadership ability," Jason replied.

"I fucked your sister, you little prick," Creed said.

"You're making us telepaths look bad," Emma muttered to Jason.

"Do we get to fight now?" the pink haired girl asked.

"Fine with me," Wade said, and he and Creed opened fire.

Jason leapt behind Emma, tentatively shooting at the enemy. A few bullets ricocheted off of her, too close for comfort. She seemed to be holding her ground though.

Victor let out a screeching caterwaul. It was like hearing a lion roar in an alleyway, and it temporarily drowned out the deluge of gunfire.

"Did ve mention? Our bullets are coated in anti-healing factor acid. Your powers of regeneration are useless," the German said.

At that moment, one of Wade's bullets hit him square in the forehead. Jason saw the bullet lodge through his skin for a moment, and then fall out onto the ground. The hole it left got smaller and smaller before disappearing completely. His own healing factor was even faster than Wade's and Victor's.

"Ow! That's so painful I can't even think of a witty retort!" Wade shouted, as he was struck by a bullet himself.

Jason and his allies were slowly being forced backwards. They were almost at the end of the hallway. Every "mutant advantage" he thought they had was effectively neutralized.

"Enough! I call a cease fire," a familiar voice rang out.

Jason knew it was his father before he stepped into view from behind the other soldiers. His hair had more grey in it than from the last time he saw him. He also seemed smaller than Jason had remembered. Did objects or people in the rearview mirror of memory appear larger than they truly were? Jason still felt more afraid of him than he ever had before though. He felt a lump forming in his throat.

"Hello…son," Stryker said.

He appeared surprisingly calm, resigned almost. He acted like he was accepting something inevitable. Jason noted he was wearing another one of those psionic blockers.

"You don't seem surprised to see me," Jason said.

"Surveillance cameras. I'm so happy you're still alive," Stryker said.

He sounded smarmy rather than sincere. Jason remembered how he always tried to charm people.

"Yeah, I'm so important to you that you froze me and left me to die at a nuclear reactor meltdown," Jason said.

"I tried to help you Jason. I always tried to help you. I can help you now, if you'll just let me," Stryker said, taking a step forward.

His father had a gift for finding out exactly what people wanted or needed and promising to give it. By the time people realized he never intended to deliver, it was too late.

"Yeah, as if you ever kept any of your promises to anyone," Wade interjected.

"I cured your cancer and made you practically immortal, you ingrate," Stryker said.

"Oh…right…but you also sewed my mouth shut with no anesthesia, turned me into a human blade-cushion, cut my eyelids off, and made it impossible for me to ever get drunk again. I should sue," Wade said.

"You knew the risks. I didn't lie about that," Stryker said.

"Like how you lied that you were gonna give me Adamantium claws if I just brought in one more mutant for your Weapon X Project?" Victor said.

"Or how you lied about freeing me if my sister Kayla worked for you?" Emma said.

"Emma Frost. My how you've gotten so…big," Stryker said, eyes lingering on her chest.

"I've always been big. Your mind has just gotten smaller," Emma said, flashing him an icy stare.

"You promised to make me look normal, and you didn't," the pink-haired girl said, crossing her arms and walking over to Jason's side.

"Yeah, you do kinda look like a reject from 'Jem and the Holograms,'" Wade said.

"Marrow, you idiot, get back over here," Stryker said.

Marrow looked like he'd slapped her in the face.

"You can't talk to me like that. I thought you and I were…" Marrow started to say.

"Excuse me, but this is MY revenge, dammit. What about me? This is my father-son reunion confrontation," Jason whined.

"Yes of course. It's all about you. That's always been your problem you spoiled, self-centered, fucking little brat. You have no conception of honor or loyalty or duty to your country. It's always been ME ME ME ME ME ME," Stryker seethed.

He was making Jason feel like a child again, like an impotent child. He hated the feeling.

"Maybe if you were around to be an actual dad instead of a pawn to the military-industrial complex, I would have turned out differently. And…you're not supposed to swear in front of me. What kind of a parent are you," Jason said.

"What kind of a son drives his own mother to suicide and then threatens his own father?" Stryker said.

"You drove your mom to suicide? Wow, you really are that annoying," Wade said.

"What the hell is going on in here," Director Colcord shouted.

He strode into view wearing pajamas and sunglasses. Jason thought it was strange he was wearing sunglasses at night. He also noticed he wasn't wearing a psionic blocker. Jason tried to suppress an evil grin.

"Sorry for the disturbance, sir. It's a family matter," Stryker said.

He put his hand on Jason's shoulder. It was the first time they'd touched since the day he was frozen. The move didn't feel reassuring at all.

Colcord stared at Victor, Wade, Emma, and finally Jason. There was a look of recognition.

"I read the files on them all. It looks like your mistakes are showing up to haunt us. And you said your rug rat was dead and harmless," Colcord said.

Jason seethed at being called a rug rat. He wanted to make Colcord pay.

"It's taken care of. It's under control," Stryker said.

"Nothing is under your control anymore. It's under my control, mine alone. I'm reporting this to Washington. Your career is over," Colcord said.

"You can't do that. I made Team X," Stryker protested.

"You made a failure. Everything you've created is a failure. Give me your gun," Colcord said.

Jason concentrated on Colcord with all of his might. Stryker handed the gun to his commanding officer. Colcord took it, turned it around, and aimed it at his own face, pulling the trigger. Someone in the back screamed.

The blonde man aimed his gun at Stryker.

"It's alright Christoph. You saw, I didn't even touch him. I'm resuming command of Team X, the way it should have been all along. Someone bring Colcord to one of the doctors. I'm going to take Jason somewhere private and have a long-overdue father-son chat with him. The rest of you, escort the remaining intruders to the lab with the vat of anti-healing factor acid. Toss them in," Stryker ordered.

He grabbed Jason by the neck and hauled him away.

After they left the room, Jason said: "You could say thank you for what I know you know I made Colcord do."

"It's his own fault he wasn't wearing a psionic-blocker. Thank you. You're still too dangerous to live," Stryker replied.

He dragged Jason into an empty operating room.

"You can't kill me. I'm your son," Jason said.

Jason was getting terrified. He kept telling himself his own father wouldn't kill him. Now he wasn't so sure. Stryker pushed him down onto an operating table.

"I loved you so much when you were a little boy. I used to be so proud of you. But you were dead to me the day you pushed Peggy to take her own life, just like you did to someone else tonight. Colcord might live though. You're not a very good shot," Stryker said.

He strapped Jason down to the table. He was surprised at how strong his father was, despite his age. Of course, he was a career military man, compared to Jason's couch potato lifestyle.

"Daddy no!" Jason pleaded.

It was the first time he'd called him Daddy in 8 years.

"This feels so biblical, doesn't it? Like Abraham and Isaac on the mountain. If I shaved your head, would I find a '666' number? Whatever am I going to do with you? You're too powerful to allow to live, but also too powerful to waste on death," Stryker said.

He was eerily calm. Jason would have been less frightened if he'd been raging at him.

"Dad please! I wasn't going to kill you. I just…I just wanted to scare you is all. I'm your flesh and blood," Jason said, crying.

"Yes, flesh and blood, bone and sinew. Different mutants have their strength in different parts of the human body. Your buddy Victor Creed's power is in his hands. Telepaths are all about the mind, and the neurological system. All that control, flowing through your spinal cord. And I missed out on having it for myself by one generation. If I murder you, I kill the Golden Goose. Unless…I keep your brain stem alive but shut down the rest of you that's so rebellious and annoying. I just had a brilliant idea," Stryker said.

He opened a drawer and pulled out a tool that looked like an elongated ice pick.

"Ever see the movie _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_?" Stryker asked.

**To Be Continued**


	13. Chapter 13

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 13

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Thank you Fyrefly and S for your reviews-)

"S", I tried clicking on both links but neither one worked. Thanks though.

**Team X Corridor**

Victor was escorted down the hall by the new Team X members with his hands over his head. They had taken all of his makeshift group's weapons, and threatened to shoot at point blank range if he or Wade used their claws or Katana blades.

Marrow led Victor. She smelled like pure, raw blood. He'd never picked up on so strong a scent on anyone he hadn't ripped open before.

"Has anyone ever told you, you smell like blood," he murmured to her.

Although her skin was already pink, Victor could swear she looked like she was blushing. She beamed.

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," she replied.

Emma rolled her diamond eyes and let out a condescending sigh.

"Excuse me, no consorting vith the enemy," the blonde man who led Wade said.

"Lighten up Christoph," Marrow said.

"The enemy? The enemy! We're not your enemies. OK we did technically break in and try to attack you, but you guys are mutants, right? Stryker hates mutants. You guys are stabbing yourselves in the front," Wade said.

Victor figured it was only a matter of time before Wade started running his mouth off again.

"You've got a big mouth, pretty boy," Christoph said, warningly.

"What the hell kind of an insult is 'pretty boy' anyhow? People have been calling me that all my life. It's like, oh gee, I'm better looking than you, what an insult," Wade said.

Faster than the blink of an eye, Christoph butted Wade with the handle of his rifle. A horrible crack echoed in the hallway as he stumbled forward, clutching his mouth. Emma screamed Wade's name.

"Try talking vith a broken jaw," Christoph threatened.

"Leave him alone," Emma said.

"Ah, the glass voman speaks," Christoph said.

"There's nothing glass about me. I'm diamond, you bloody fascist," Emma said.

Christoph menacingly walked up to Emma. He grabbed her chin, forcing her head upwards. She stared back at him defiantly.

"So if I hit you, you vouldn't break, vouldn't shatter into a thousand pieces? Are you even human, in this diamond form? The honorable Stryker studied you and this shell of yours. His research shows you have a flaw. If I hit just the right spot, I guarantee you vould shatter like glass. Plus our records show you can't stay as a shiny rock forever. Then you'll be even more vulnerable than your comrades, as you drown vith them," he threatened.

Emma didn't flinch.

"Honorable Stryker, my ass," Victor spat.

Christoph swung the butt of his gun at Victor, but he was ready for him. He caught it with his own lightning-fast reflexes. Victor growled, as all of the soldiers turned their weapons on him.

"Stryker is usin' all of you. I'll bet he tells you you're his favorite soldier. You're all just cannon fodder in his war against all mutants," Victor said.

"That's enough of these traitors. To the vats, now!" Christoph ordered.

They were forced to march again. Victor heard a cracking sound as Wade adjusted his jaw. His healing factor was already working. But would it work against a vat of anti-healing factor acid?

As they entered a lab, Victor's nose was irritated by the smell of the chemical. His eyes watered, and he tensed up in anticipation. It was like his body sensed the nearing poison with every pore of his being.

He could smell fear coming off of Wade. Emma didn't smell like anything organic. She and Wade kept exchanging worried glances with each other.

Victor felt the barest flicker of jealousy. He didn't feel any attraction to Emma: she wasn't his type. He did realize if he died then and there, no one would care. At least they had each other at the end.

Victor, Emma and Wade were lined up on a balcony overlooking a giant container of the horrible green substance. It churned below them like a whirlpool. Even if the corrosion wasn't as powerful as he feared, he couldn't swim.

"Now I know what lobsters feel like," Wade said.

"Toss them in," Christoph said.

"Hey, wait aren't you supposed to go into a long monologue now explaining all your plans for world conquest that gives us just enough time to escape? I normally only like monologues if I'm the one delivering them. But here, I'll make an exception." Wade said.

"Can I pay you to let us go? Wade and I, that is. I could care less about Victor," Emma said.

"Thanks princess. Are you gonna pay them in singles since you're a stripper," Victor sneered.

"How much money are you talking about?" Marrow said.

"Silence. Toss the vermin in," Christoph said.

Victor roared as he was forced over the ledge. The smell of the danger below grew even more intense. He flailed, literally for his life, and his claws cut into the side. Fortunately they were strong enough to cut through metal.

His right foot dangled beneath the surface of the liquid, and his toes felt like they were on fire. He felt his flesh melt off. He screamed in agony as he tried to pull himself farther up.

Wade screamed even louder. Victor turned his head to the side and saw that he had fallen into the middle of the tank. The flesh on his face that was visible looked burned away, like a fire victim. He looked like Freddy Krueger from the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movies.

Victor heard shots ring out, as the soldiers up above took aim at him. Bullets ricocheted around him, as they targeted his hands. He tried to slowly crawl his way up the side.

"Stop shooting, you fools! The bullet holes are making the tank drain!" Christoph shouted.

Victor tried to catch his breath. He wondered where Emma was. Wade had disappeared. For once, Victor missed his constant wisecracks. He found them annoying when they had been teammates, but at least they were a sign that things weren't overwhelming.

Victor stared up at Christoph and the other soldiers. They still had their weapons pointed at him. Christoph smiled triumphantly.

"Vell, vell, vell. You are truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you come above, ve shoot you. If you fall below, you suffer the others' fate. And you can't hold on forever," he sneered.

Victor did notice the vat was emptying slightly. There was more space between his feet and the liquid. His foot wasn't healing though.

He heard a gasp as Wade broke the surface. He was on Emma's shoulders. She looked unharmed, for now. Wade still looked ravaged. He smelled awful, like a corpse that had fallen in sulfur.

Wade was muttering something. At first Victor thought it was gibberish. Then he realized it was Latin.

"Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae, et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine," Wade mumbled.

He was reciting the Catholic Last Rites.

Emma's face was still above the surface. He saw it transform from diamond to flesh, but her neck stayed shiny. She winked at him.

Victor didn't understand at first, until a machine gun suddenly floated in the air away from one of the guards and down to him. He grabbed it with one hand and opened fire. The other soldiers started screaming. It was a symphony to his ears.

They tried to shoot at him, but in his primal rage he got a second wind. He heard several satisfying thuds as soldiers started to fall. Christoph yelled and fell forwards into the vat. He still had a gun in his hands. Wade grabbed at it. He smiled with what was left of his mouth and started opening fire on the remaining soldiers.

The bullets stopped coming from the sides of the vat. Victor tossed his gun to Wade and slowly made his way to the top. He threw down a rope to the others and they climbed out.

Wade was shivering. His clothes had been dissolved off by the acid. His skin wasn't healing. He still looked deformed.

"Not bad, Frost," Victor said.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. I realized I could transform my mind to its normal state and leave my body in diamond form and still use telekinesis. It's strongest when I'm stressed. I was definitely stressed. Are there any clothes for Wade?"

Victor tossed him a jumpsuit.

"Mommy are we there yet? I'm not healing. Shouldn't I be healing by now?" Wade said, staring at his corroded arms.

Victor realized his foot wasn't healing either.

"What does my face look like? Let me see my face," Wade said.

"Wade darling, maybe you should hold off. We still need to get out of here," Emma said soothingly.

"Let me see my face," Wade said, as he stood up and walked to a shiny metal door.

"Ohmigawd. No. No. No. Don't look at me Emma. Don't look at me like this," he said, backing away from his own reflection and tripping.

"DON"T LOOK AT ME!" he screamed.

To be continued


	14. Chapter 14

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 14

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Thank you Fyrefly and S for your reviews-)

**Team X Headquarters**

It had felt like drowning in fire, contradictory as that may sound. Wade felt like his skin was burning, except he didn't have any skin left, just a grotesque layer of shiny white and red peaks and valleys. He had gotten a third degree burn once before, when his father had once made him touch the flame of a gas-lit stove. Except he was able to take his hand away to get away from the pain. He couldn't escape from his own body.

"Noxzema. I need to take a bath in Noxzema," he moaned.

Wade remembered how when he had gotten sunburns, the white medicated cream had helped cool him off. He used to get sunburns all the time in his quest for the perfect tan. He was always striving for the perfect surface, the perfect California-boy exterior. If he looked perfect on the outside, people wouldn't notice how twisted up he was on the inside. Twisted like his flesh was now.

"We gotta get out of here before reinforcements come. Then you can take a bath in mud for all I care," Victor said.

"People pay good money for mud baths. It's the latest spa treatment," Emma said.

"Speakin' of money, shouldn't we find Jason? I gotta get the rest of my pay for this mess," Victor said.

Emma transformed into her human form. She put her fingers to her temple and frowned.

"I'm not picking up any thoughts from him. Stryker probably already…already…already killed his own son," Emma said.

"Maybe Stryker just put a psionic blocker on him and that's why you're not hearing him. Can I get aloe? Aloe or a cold shower? Aspirin? Extra-strength PCP? Kick? Punch? I know I'm supposed to be immune to drugs, but if Team X can make an anti-healing factor acid, they've got to have something healing-factor proof to take the pain away," Wade said.

"Stop whining and be a man Wade. I can't believe I ain't gettin' the rest of my money," Victor growled.

"What's with this 'be a man' crap I've been hearing all my life? You never hear chicks say they have to prove they're women." Wade said, giggling.

It didn't sound like his normal laugh. It sounded like it came from someone else. He wanted to get going. He felt like he had to keep walking so he wouldn't think about…wouldn't worry about…

"This is temporary right? There's a cure for this, right? I'm indestructible. Stryker told me I'd be invincible. Team X made me the man I am today. Team X made me the monster I am today," Wade rambled.

He stumbled forward as his legs gave way. He reached towards Emma to steady himself and grabbed her forearm. She cringed. It was only for a moment, but he saw her flinch at his touch on her perfect skin.

Victor caught him roughly. Wade dangled from his grip. The pain in his arm temporarily took his mind off of the pain from the burns.

"Don't fuckin' lose it Wade. Keep it together. You and I have been through worse than this," Victor said.

"No we haven't. I lost my mind. Someone help me find it again please," he said, laughing again.

He was laughing at nothing. He was laughing at everything.

"He's going into shock. We have to get him to a hospital," Emma said.

"This time, we're usin' the front door," Victor said.

**Team X Operating Room Wing**

Marrow dragged herself through the corridors. They were dark, but she preferred it that way. They reminded her of the safety of the sewers. She missed the sewers. They smelled so much more natural than this place.

She had been shot a few times by the attackers, but was slowly healing. She had to get to Stryker. Stryker would know what to do.

She opened the door to the only operating room that had a light on. Stryker was there, cleaning blood off of a metal spike. He was whistling a song she didn't recognize, but it sounded happy. All music sounded happy to her. Happy, but alien.

She entered the room. Jason was lying on the table. His eyes were open and he was breathing with his mouth open. There was a little red dot in the center of his forehead.

"Everyone's dead. The traitors, they shot everyone. Christof fell in the green stuff. It was horrible," she said.

Stryker looked up, blankly.

"Great. More disappointing henchmen. Can't anyone do anything right besides me? This is why I should be in charge of doing everything. All of my children disappoint me. All of my children grow up to be terrorists and come back to haunt me. Am I a bad father?" he said.

"Well, from what I've seen…yeah. Don't you even care that your soldiers are dead? We're supposed to be one big happy family here. You don't even seem glad to see me," she said.

"Why would I care about failures?" Stryker asked.

Marrow looked at him with confusion. She had been so impressed with him. He had taken care of her; made her look sort of human, made her feel like what she thought it was liked to be loved. And he didn't even seem to care.

"I thought this was going to be fun. I'm not a failure. I'm still alive," she said.

"Sometimes, death is better. Isn't that right Jason? But I couldn't kill my own son, could I? I'm not an evil man," Stryker addressed his child.

"What did you do to him? Is he sleeping with his eyes open?" she asked.

"It's called a lobotomy. It's a scientific procedure that was used to keep mental patients under control. I finally found a way to keep people under my control. Now get out there and guard the entrance. I can't have Creed and Wilson and the Frost girl escaping from me a second time. They have to be controlled. Isn't that right, Jason?" Stryker said.

Marrow quickly left the room. Stryker wasn't a good man. He was a very, very bad man.

**Team X Entrance Hall**

Emma led the way towards the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it was fluorescent. Fluorescent light made everyone look ghastly. Victor carried Wade draped over his shoulder. She was surprised at the relative selflessness of the act. Perhaps, the old tradition of soldiers never leaving one of their fallen on the battlefield had actually sunk in with him.

She was consciously trying to not look at Wade. She kept telling herself his repulsive condition had to be temporary. Everything had a cure, if you spent enough money towards it.

Emma was about to breathe a sigh of relief as they neared the doorway, when Tendon or Gristle or Bone Marrow or whatever her name was stepped out in front of them. She was aiming a gun directly at Emma's heart. She transformed into diamond again, although it was getting harder and harder each time.

"I can't let you leave. You've made such a mess of things. Everything around here is a mess because of you," Marrow said, her voice cracking.

A shot rang out and the gun fell from her hands. Victor had apparently hit her right on her grip. She howled and hung her head low.

"Nobody stops me, little girl," Victor threatened.

Marrow looked up again. The corner of her mouth twitched. Bony plates grew to cover her forehead, chest, arms and leg, like a natural armor. She lifted her hands and four long bone claws extended from each of them. She smiled.

Victor growled and set Wade down. He extended his own lethal fingernails and approached her menacingly.

"Is this really necessary? Your teammates are slaughtered. You're outnumbered. There's been enough bloodshed tonight. Let us pass and we'll let you go unharmed," Emma said.

"I don't believe you. Everyone lies. Everyone around here lies to me," Marrow said.

Emma saw an opening.

"Did Stryker lie to you? He doesn't care about any mutants. We're your own kind, not him." Emma said, stepping forward slowly.

"My own kind. I don't have anything in common with you. You're so pretty you make me want to vomit," Marrow said.

"I've had work done. $25,000 worth of work done. I don't want to hurt you, darling. We just want to leave, and take our friend to the hospital in peace," Emma said.

"We just want to come and go in peace. Take us to your leader. Oh wait, we don't want to see your leader again. He's a dick. E.T. Phone home," Wade said.

"I'll get in trouble if I let you go," Marrow said.

"Not if you leave, too. You can walk out the door with us, and do whatever you want to do. You can walk to freedom," Emma said.

Marrow looked at the three of them. Her lip was quivering. Under her grotesque exterior, Emma could tell she was mentally just a little child.

"Ok. Stryker doesn't care about me. I know he doesn't care," she said.

She walked towards the door and opened it for them.

"So where are you from?" Victor asked Marrow, looking at her quizzically.

"Under New York City. My Morlock brothers and sisters live in the sewers," she replied.

"Dude, you're covered in a shell and you grew up in the sewers. You're a real live Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Heroes in a half shell! Turtle Power!" Wade sang off-key.

"Shut up Wade," Victor snarled.

"He'll fight for freedom, wherever there's trouble, GI Joe is there! A real American hero! GI Joe is there!" Wade continued singing.

"I'm gonna fuckin' drop you," Victor said.

"I'm shutting up now," Wade said quickly.

**20 Minutes Later, Victor's Truck**

Victor started up his truck. Emma sat in the back, cradling Wade in a blanket. He noticed she'd stopped touching him, like he was contaminated.

"I can't believe Marrow didn't want to come with me…I mean us. She was kinda cool for a frail," Victor said.

"You certainly know how to damn with faint praise. So what hospital is closest?" Emma asked.

"Fuck if I know. I don't live here," Victor replied.

"I hate fanfics set in the 80's. GPS hasn't even been invented yet. I can't go to a normal hospital. I don't have insurance. I didn't need it since I never got sick. And Wilson Fisk doesn't exactly have a health plan for assassins. Speaking of which, I haven't done a job for him since I started hanging out with you. I turned down his last few assignments. I should probably check in with his network. I'm so thirsty. Can we stop by a gas station and get a gallon of Noxzema for me to drink?" Wade said.

"Your health is a greater priority than work. We need to find a mutant friendly center. If we're in Westchester County, aren't we near Professor Xavier's school? I recall it having an extensive medical research facility. If anyone had the resources to help, it's him," Emma said.

"The X-Men?! No fuckin' way. I'm ex-Brotherhood of Mutants. I've clashed with them too many times," Victor growled.

He hated the X-Men. They were a bunch of species-traitor pussies that didn't believe in killing and wanted to help humanity. What a joke.

"Professor Xavier is such a bleeding-heart liberal he wouldn't turn away any fellow mutants seeking asylum. Look, I'll call him and see what he says. And you don't need to stay, we just need you to drive us there," Emma said.

"Fine, but even if he says yes, I ain't stayin' long," Victor said.

**To Be Continued**

**Author's note: In the next chapter, I'll finally get to write some X-Men cameos! The showdown between Marrow and Victor was loosely based on an incident that took place in the comics.**


	15. Chapter 15

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 15

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Reviews are much appreciated!

**The Road to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning**

Emma pondered why the journey to a destination always seemed to take longer than the road back. Perhaps it was because people were excited, or in her case anxious to reach their goal but dreaded returning to the banality of home. She was also afraid of Wade dying in her arms in his present state. She knew him well enough to know he'd want an open casket, but not looking like this.

"Sweet dreams are made of these. Who am I to disagree? I travel the world and the Seven Seas. Everybody's looking for something. Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused," Wade sang weakly.

"I'm gonna abuse you myself if you don't shut up," Victor threatened from the driver's seat.

"Not much of a threat. You abuse me anyhow," Wade said.

At least he was keeping his sense of humor. It was gallows humor. The Wade she'd come to know and love was still in there somewhere.

"At least if he's talking I know he's still alive. He'll keep it down, won't you darling?" Emma asked.

"I'll be quiet…er," Wade said.

"I have enhanced hearin', remember? Can't you have one of those creepy telepathic conversations in each others' heads so I don't have to listen to it? Actually, I think I see the gate up ahead," Victor said.

Emma got a little bit nervous.

"Oh, that reminds me. I kind of…sort of…neglected to mention to Professor Xavier that you were with us Victor, "she said.

"What," Victor growled, bringing the car to a sudden stop.

"Well I calculated he'd be less likely to turn us away if we showed up in front of him with Wade's injuries. A live picture is worth a thousand words," Emma said.

"I ain't walkin' into hostile territory again over either one of you," Victor snarled.

Fortunately, at that moment the gates swung open loudly.

"They don't sound hostile. Look your intentions are honorable, right? As honorable as it gets from you. We didn't come this far for me to die in the backseat," Wade said.

"Fine. It might be…entertainin' for me to see Charlie again," Victor said, grinning evilly.

Emma wondered if Victor's change in a lack of heart might make things worse. Victor drove the car through the gates. It clanged shut behind them.

She had actually stayed at the Institute for about a month before, when it was still publicly a "School for Gifted Children." Ironically, it had been immediately after she and the other mutant children were freed from Stryker's experimental prison on Three Mile Island. She was curious if the place had changed much.

As they turned a corner, the main building looked completely different than what she had remembered. It looked completely new and was much larger. Emma was impressed, and wondered how many zeroes were in its endowment.

"Did any of the Three Mile Island children become full-blown X-Men?" she asked.

"Only Scott Summers. I tried to kill him a few times. He's still a dork," Victor said.

Emma remembered Scott. He had only been at Three Mile for a little bit, but Victor had found time to torture him and possibly worse. They had dated in that vague adolescent way before she left Xavier's influence.

They pulled in front of the building. Emma undid two more buttons on her shirt. She may as well use every "weapon" in her arsenal.

Professor Charles Xavier was sitting in a wheelchair. Next to him was a mutant that looked like an even more devolved version of Victor. He was covered in blue fur, but looked markedly feline, in a leonine way. She heard growling from both Victor and the blue mutant, and was reminded of when her mother's Siamese would growl territorially at any stray cats that came near the house.

"Miss Frost, you didn't tell me Victor Creed was with you," Xavier said sternly.

She knew he could read her mind, so she concentrated on how her motive was to save Wade.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to save my fri…boyfriend's life. Surely you of all people can be compassionate and understanding," she said, clutching her arm in a way that shifted to make her cleavage look even bigger.

She had hesitated calling Wade her boyfriend. In the beginning of their relationship, she sometimes didn't introduce him in public as her significant other because sooner or later he said something embarrassing. The looks of jealousy from other women and a few men when first seeing him had made her warm up to making: "He's with me," comments.

"C'mon Charlie. I ain't been Brotherhood in years. Where's that 'Protectin' the World From Those That Fear Us' or whatever yer sayin' is philosophy," Victor said.

"Yes, I'm aware Magneto expelled you. But there are children here that I must protect," Xavier said.

"My intentions with yer children are perfectly honorable," Victor said snidely.

"I love children. I'm in graduate school for teaching. Look, I'll pay for everything, and we'll volunteer to stay escorted at all times. And we won't stay long, unless you want SOME of us to. Wade needs help now, please," Emma said.

Xavier perked up when she mentioned "teaching". She had a feeling he would.

"Your money is no good here, Miss Frost. I'll have Beast here do what he can to help Wade. Funny you should mention teaching, we're always looking for new instructors here," Xavier said.

"_As I'm sure you're well aware. Quid pro quo Miss Frost_," Xavier telepathically said in her mind.

The blue mutant named Beast leapt towards the car and opened Wade's door. She felt a twinge of protectiveness, expecting him to be a brute like Victor. Instead he picked him up and gently cradled his head as if he looked like a cute baby instead of a shriveled monster.

"Oh my stars and garters! You poor, poor man! I'll get you to my facility and hooked up to Lactated Ringers' Solution immediately," Beast said, in a voice that was deep yet surprisingly urbane.

"Is that like breast feeding," Wade asked.

**Several Hours Later, Beast's Laboratory**

Wade opened his eyes, listening to the sounds of a modified hospital room. It was like coming home in a way. Before Stryker injected him with healing factor, he'd been sick all of the time.

The beeping on the heart monitor sounded too weak and slow. He remembered how his heart used to beat faster than most people's, not because he was in bad cardio condition, but because he was so easily excitable. The blood pressure readings were even worse. Combined, they weren't enough to make a decent I.Q..

"I'm just waiting for these cultures to develop. I'm going to need your medical history," Beast said.

"I had Chicken Pox, Smallpox, German Measles, French Measles, Canadian Measles, and Chlamydia. They thought I was 'mentally challenged' but I really had ADD. My mother died of breast cancer. My father had lung cancer, but didn't die of 'natural causes.'" I had Stage 4 Lung Cancer at 24," Wade said.

"Stage Four?! And you're still alive?" Beast asked.

"Team X implanted me with the Healing Factor to cure it," Wade said.

"They have a cure for cancer and they haven't released it to the general public? What is the point of science if it isn't used for the greater good?" Beast said.

"I guess they'd rather use it for the greater bad. Are you related to Victor at all? You're both hairy and cat-like and big and strong. Except you're like, blue and furry all over and don't seem like a raging sociopathic sadistic borderline pedophile and actually have, like, empathy for the world. On second thought, you're nothing like Victor."

"I believe it's just a matter of convergent evolution. Being feline is a secondary mutation of mine. And if I ever acted like Victor Creed, I'd submit myself to be locked up for the safety of millions. Is the ointment I gave you helping?" Beast said.

"Yeah. It's so hard to find stuff that actually works on me," Wade said.

"Do you have any photographs of yourself before this horrible accident? So I can better assess the damage?" Beast asked.

"It wasn't accidental. Fuckers did this to me on purpose. There's a picture of me in my wallet," Wade said.

Beast took it out. It was actually a picture of Wade with Emma. They were both smiling in the way that only couples that are having sex constantly do.

"Very nice," Beast said.

"Yeah, we used to be a gorgeous couple. I mean…we are…we will be…you get the picture, literally," Wade said.

Beast examined the slides he's taken of Wade's various samples. He was frowning. Wade didn't like it. He heard the beeping of the heart rate monitors increase, like a lie detector test for emotions.

"I'm afraid I don't have good news for you," Beast said.

**Another Corner of the Institute **

"And this right here is the Danger Room, where we do our training. It's like a living videogame," Scott Summers said.

Emma had been shocked at how much he'd changed since she last saw him. He used to be a little on the scrawny side, and was a bit of a joke to the other children. Now he was even taller than she remembered, and covered in muscle. His features were chiseled, like a model from a Calvin Klein ad. She couldn't see his eyes, but wanted to.

"Interesting. So out of everyone from Three Mile, you're the only one that stayed? Why is that," she asked.

Scott's demeanor changed. He seemed to stiffen up even more, assuming that was even possible. He seemed defensive.

"I can't answer for other people's decisions. I can only answer for my own. I believe in what Charles and the school teaches. I believe what we do is right. Our rules can save both mutant kind and humanity," he said.

His maturity impressed her. He seemed more adult than most middle-aged people. It was definitely a far cry from Wade's behavior.

"I wasn't questioning Charles' philosophy. I was just curious why so many of the others left, after how Charles helped so many of us," Emma said.

"Why did you leave," Scott asked

"Because out of all of the children, I was the only one with a limousine waiting to take me back home. That and at the time I was so angry at what had been done to us, I couldn't relate to how non-violent Charles' methods were. Not that I'm saying his way is right or wrong," she said.

"Well, I think the latter part is probably why the others left. I didn't really speak to them much. You were the only one I got…close to," Scott said.

Emma leaned in closer. It was just a little harmless flirting, wasn't it?

The door to the danger room opened and a red-headed girl walked out. She looked a little younger than Scott. Her expression was accusatory.

"Your session ended early. This is Emma Frost. She was one of the survivors of Three Mile Island. Emma, this is Jean Grey, my girlfriend. You're both telepaths. You gals should get along great," Scott said quickly.

Did he just say 'gals'?

"Charmed I'm sure. Scott never mentioned he had a girlfriend," Emma said.

"Oh that's Scott: all business," Jean said.

"_Stay away from him, you slut,"_ Jean projected telepathically into Emma's mind.

"_Did he tell you he lost part of his virginity to me? I won't tell you which part. You'll have to use your imagination_," Emma projected into Jean's head.

At that moment, Scott's phone radio, or walkie-talkie device went off. He answered it.

"It's Beast. He says he's gotten the results, and Wade needs to talk to you," Scott said.

_To Be Continued_


	16. Chapter 16

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 16

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Reviews are much appreciated!

**Author's Note: A lot of angst in this chapter**

**Beast's Laboratory**

Wade lay weakly in his bed. He still had an IV attached to his arm, feeding him and rinsing out the poison from his system…or medical words to that effect. The door opened and Emma walked in, escorted by a tall good-looking guy with weird glasses on. She smiled at him a little too brightly as he left.

Wade sat up. He was groggy, but still moved faster than most men in his predicament. It was an effect of the enhanced reflexes Team X had implanted in him. That had been the first operation he had submitted to. It was the "gateway" surgery in his quest to be the perfect soldier. _Team X giveth and_ _Team X taketh away_.

He could tell from the expression on her face she knew what the news was going to be. Nothing good ever came from: "I need to talk to you." For the first time in his life, Wade didn't want to speak. Couldn't he put off the inevitable a little bit longer? He needed to get it over with, though.

"I have some good news. Beast stabilized my condition. I need to drink a lot and get plenty of bed rest. He says if you hadn't brought me here so quickly I wouldn't have made it. My healing factor is still working. It got overloaded, but it's working…on the inside," Wade said.

"You're welcome. That's wonderful," she said.

Her voice was perfunctory. She sounded polite but cold, like telling a stranger: "It's nice to meet you."

Wade felt a painful stab forming in his throat. He swallowed it down and exhaled.

"The scarring is permanent. Beasts' idea is that healing factor is like a supercharged immune system. The white blood cells attack everything they think is foreign. The anti-healing factor crap was able to burn away whatever part of me it touched because it was designed to fight my immunity. But now that I'm not touching it anymore, my system thinks the scars are just another part of my body. Skin grafts won't work because my super immunity will just reject and quote unquote heal them away," Wade said.

He was starting to understand why doctors used such formal terminology for afflictions. It made pain and disease seem less personal. He watched Emma's face when he spoke. She was looking down and away from him.

"But there has to be something. Can't you get a second opinion?" she asked.

"Yeah, cause there's so many doctors out there that specialize in mutant biology," Wade said bitterly.

"But you're not technically a mutant. You just need a reconstructive specialist. Perhaps there's a good plastic surgeon in Switzerland," she said, meeting his eyes.

"Technically, I'm a mutate, not a mutant. You say mutate-o, I say mu-tawto. We could try, but I already know all we'll do is make the doctors richer. Money can't buy happiness," he said.

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness has clearly never purchased a Rolls-Royce. What if I used my powers to make you appear to other people the way you used to? I could telepathically try," she said.

"Can you use telepathy on yourself?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no. It's like trying to tickle yourself. It doesn't work that way," she said.

"I appreciate the offer, but no. Besides, Beast can give me an image-inducer that uses holographs to make mutants look like normal people. It was how he was able to go to a regular school and get his doctor degree. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on telepaths," Wade said.

He realized as he said "normal" and "regular" that it was getting harder and harder to view himself as either of those things. The irony that the one person he wanted to look "normal" again to the most was immune to it wasn't lost on him.

"Look I've noticed you've been…distant to me after the accident," he said.

Emma sighed and looked away for a moment. Wade felt that damn pain in his throat again. He didn't want to cry in front of her.

"I don't like seeing you in pain. This is…an adjustment," she said.

"Is it that you don't like seeing me in pain, or you just plain don't like seeing me anymore?" he asked.

"Jesus Christ Wade, do you honestly think I'm that shallow and coldhearted? Do you really believe I would dump you right after what we've been through? What we've been through together," she asked.

"No of course not. That would make you look bad. And we both know how important looks are to you. It's all about keeping up appearances. I think you're planning on waiting for the soonest possible moment when etiquette says it's ok for you to abandon me. Are you just biding your time? Because if you are, let's not drag this out any longer. Are you going to leave me?" he seethed.

He saw a tear drop from Emma's eye, and she sniffed the way people do when they're trying not to cry.

Emma said, with what sounded like sincerity: "I fell in love with you. I still love you. What happened doesn't change that. And you're the last person on Earth I want to hurt. I'm not going to abandon you. But it's complicated. My feelings for you right now aren't black and white. No matter what happens between us, I want us to always be Fr…"

"Don't say "The F Word!" Wade shouted.

Emma froze, staring at him.

"Don't say I want to be 'friends.' That's the kiss of death. Besides, you and I were never really friends. We went from being prison guard and prisoner enemies to lovers…that's such a cheesy word; lovers. At least with Tabby she and I were friends first, as much as friendship can exist in a nuclear plant hiding a pseudo-terrorist Black Ops unit," Wade said.

"But I do want to be friends with you. Just because I find you aesthetically repulsive doesn't mean I don't care about you," she said.

"Does the way I look make that much of a difference? Can't we just have sex with the light off? You're into BDSM, maybe you could be the one to wear a blindfold for a change?" he said hopefully.

Emma looked him up and down. Wade held his breath. She tentatively held her hand out to him.

He gently took it, like he had countless times before. But this time, it felt different against the ridges and grooves and ugliness that covered his palm. The scarring didn't just affect the way the world saw him, it affected the way the rest of the world now felt to him. He could tell from the look in Emma's eyes it changed the way he felt to the world as well.

"I'm sorry. I can't pretend, if that's what you're asking me to do," she said.

"Can't we have phone sex? Or telepathic mind sex? That was always my favorite part with you, the mental connection. Why does our connection have to end? Please? Can't I at least get break-up phone sex," he pleaded.

Emma took her hand away.

"Keep your dignity," she said coldly as she stood up.

"I never had any dignity. Dude, you should know that by now. Ego: yes! Dignity: no!" he said.

"I'm going to bed. I've had enough," she said dismissively.

"You've got some nerve. This is all your fucking fault Emma. Going after Stryker was your idea. None of this shit would've ever happened if you didn't walk back into my life. Or should I say, pole danced. You act like a queen, when you're just an opportunistic, manipulative, self-centered, and so shallow if someone turned you sideways you'd be invisible little snot. You're not even trying to help after what happened to me," Wade said.

"Not even trying to help? Not even trying to help?! All I've done since we were shoved into the vat is try to help. I'm the one that saved you, remember?" she said.

"You should have let me drown! I would have been better off if you just let me die," Wade said, crying.

"AM I GOING TO HAVE TO STAGE AN INTERVENTION?" a loud voice boomed into Wade's head.

It sounded like it was coming from above. Emma looked upwards startled. Could it really be? Every Catholic Sunday School lesson Wade had ever been subjected to came crashing back to him.

"God, is that you?" Wade asked.

"NO. IT'S PROFESSOR XAVIER," echoed in Wade's head.

"Have you been eavesdropping in our heads the entire time? With all due respect, that's rather rude and against the rules of your own Institution," Emma said.

"NORMALLY IT IS, BUT EXCEPTIONS ARE MADE IN THE CASE OF THREATS TO LIFE. WE TAKE THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE VERY SERIOUSLY HERE. AND BOTH OF YOUR EMOTIONS HAVE BEEN ABNORMALLY LOUD. YOU DISTURBED ME IN MY STUDY," Xavier said.

"So the part about the phone sex, you like, heard that too?" Wade asked.

"COUGH…COUGH…AHEM," Xavier said.

Wade and Emma exchanged a sheepish look with each other. He wondered if it would be the last time they communicated like that.

"I'm sorry, Sir," Wade said.

"I UNDERSTAND. THERE ARE 5 STAGES TO GRIEF: DENIAL, ANGER, BARGAINING, DEPRESSION, AND ACCEPTANCE. YOU'RE CLEARLY IN THE ANGER STAGE. I COULD SPEED UP THE PROCESS AND PLACE YOU IN THE ACCEPTANCE PHASE IF YOU'D LIKE."

"You could have done that the whole time?" Wade asked.

"We telepaths can do that?" Emma asked, perking up.

"WELL I PREFER FOR MY STUDENTS TO LEARN LESSONS ON THEIR OWN, IF POSSIBLE. IF YOU STAY LONGER MISS FROST, I CAN TEACH YOU EVEN MORE ABOUT YOUR POTENTIAL ABILITIES,"

"Tempting," Emma said, smiling for the first time since yesterday.

"Can you program me…program, that sounds creepy, to get a good night's sleep for now and think about it with a clear head?" Wade asked.

"A WISE CHOICE. NO ONE MAKES A GOOD DECISION AT 3:00 IN THE MORNING. PLEASANT DREAMS."

**Meanwhile, in another part of the Institute**

Victor was getting anxious. He was still wired from the fights and near-death experiences from earlier. He tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, but his claws tore at the wood.

He tried the door to the bedroom he had been escorted into, but it was locked. He smelled the door, and picked up Adamantium metal underneath. Charlie Xavier may be a sentimental sap, but he wasn't stupid.

The lock may have kept Victor in, but it couldn't keep the smells out. They taunted him: children, teenagers and others he considered prey, just beyond his grasp. He could practically taste them.

Victor walked to the window, to test if it was similarly enforced. It didn't have any Adamantium, just a lock from the inside. Whoever designed the place must have figured because it was three stories up no one would dare escape to the outside. Whoever designed it hadn't prepared for the likes of Victor Creed.

He opened the window. It creaked a little, but his extra-sensitive ears didn't pick up that anyone in the building noticed or changed direction. He deftly shredded the screen and climbed out.

He clung to the walls, and slowly inched his way to the only window that had a light. He peered in. An Asian girl, who couldn't have been more than 14 sat in front of the glow of a TV. He smiled.

To his luck, a window was open slightly in the hallway next to her. He opened it enough to crawl in. He sauntered confidently through the hall and into the TV room.

"Hiya," Victor said.

The girl shuddered, caught unaware. Victor smelled fright. He loved that.

"Um hi. I wasn't breaking curfew. Really, I'm not. The rules are "no TV in the downstairs room" and we're in the third floor, so technically, I'm not breaking any rules. Besides, it's a weekend and I couldn't sleep. I haven't seen you before. Are you a new teacher? Because you're like, too old to be a student. Not that you're like, 'over the hill' old. I'm Jubilation Lee, by the way. People call me "Jubilee" or "Jubes" for short," she said.

"I'm Victor. I ain't a teacher. I'm a guest. But I just…looooooooooove kids. Especially your age," he said, leaning in predatorily towards her.

**To Be Continued **


	17. Chapter 17

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 17

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Reviews are much appreciated!

**Third Floor TV Room, X-Men Mansion**

"So Jubilee, what's your special power?" Victor asked.

He didn't care about who she was as a person. He only cared so he would know what her strengths were. It would let him gauge how hard, or possibly easy, it would be to defeat her.

"I can, like, create plasma bursts with my hands. Kind of like fireworks," she said.

"So you can blow shit up? Can you show me," Victor asked.

He was about to take his shoes off. It tended to give prey a sense of relaxation and get them to let their guard down even more. Then he remembered how his foot was still deformed from the acid.

"We're not supposed to swear or use powers above the first floor. It's against the rules. What's your power?" she said.

Victor smiled, showing his fangs. He also lifted up one of his claws, but kept the nails retracted as much as they'd go. He didn't want to "tip his hand" in the literal sense too soon.

"Oh, are you like, one of those mutants like Professor Beast that's looks like a monster on the outside but is all soft and cuddly on the inside, "she asked.

"Oh Beast and I are entirely different beasts. But that's me all right. I'm super-cuddly," he said, trying to suppress his sarcasm.

Victor put his arm on the back of the couch behind her. He surveyed the room, looking for possible escape routes to block. He heard no other sounds in the hall. His nostrils flared as he smelled vodka and scotch from a closed cabinet.

"So where are ya from? China? Japan? North or South Korea?" he asked.

"Beverly Hills, California," she said.

She stuck her chin out a little defiantly, like she was puffing herself up. Victor stared at her neck. Her jugular twitched, teasing him. He wondered what it would feel like to put his hands around her neck.

"Oh. No wonder you can afford the tuition at this place. Your family must be really rich," Victor said.

If she was from a wealthy family, he might be able to pull off a kidnapping and get a nice ransom. He edged closer to her on the couch. Victor could smell Cherry Chap stick on her lips. He normally didn't like synthetic smells, but this particular one brought back memories for him. There was something familiar about her, not so much her individually but her type.

"Oh there's no tuition here. Professor Xavier pays for us all. And I'm, like, an orphan. This school is the closest thing I have to, like, a real family," she said.

She kept saying "like" over and over again, in that annoying pre-teen way. He felt the urge to rip her throat out, but suppressed it. His bloodlust wrestled with what miniscule patience he had.

"No wonder you seem like, no offense, a bit of a nerd, always followin' the rules," he said.

Jubilee frowned and turned to him. He could tell he struck a nerve. They cared so much about what other people thought at that age.

"I am not a nerd," she said defensively.

"Really? I bet you don't even know where to find alcohol in this place," Victor taunted.

"I do too, there's some in the cabinet in here that the teachers use. It, like, has a code on it, but I cracked it awhile ago. We like, just mix water in with the stuff when we're done so the adults don't notice any is missing," she said proudly.

"I guess you're cool after all. Show me," Victor said.

She got up and went over to the cabinet. Victor used this as an opportunity to lock all of the doors from the inside out without arousing her suspicions. He remembered the old saying: "Candy's dandy, but liquor's quicker."

Jubilee proudly brought some bottles over. The smell made his eyes burn. Even though Victor had a natural immunity to getting drunk, hard liquor's smell did set off his senses.

"I bet I can still drink more than you. A little thing like you don't look like someone that can hold their alcohol," he said.

She was exceptionally tiny, not even five feet tall. Sometimes he liked to take down the strong to feed his need to be in control. Other times he was in the mood for the tiny, the weak, and the frail. They made him feel that much more powerful.

"I can hold my own. I have, like, a crazy fast mutant metabolism," she said, and started to drink a glass filled with 4 shots worth of vodka.

Victor poured himself some scotch and watched her. She kept talking the whole time, babbling and saying "like" every 5 words. He waited for her words to start slurring and her reflexes to slow.

As he drank his own libation he pondered the events of the night, and of the whole operation to kill Stryker. The truth was, it was a failure, and that was Victor's own fault. Fuckin' Emma Frost had turned out to be right about not wanting to go in without getting more reconnaissance about what they were up against. She'd actually turned out to be a pretty decent leader at the end. If it wasn't for her he could've ended up like Wade or worse.

It made Victor feel impotent. Not physically impotent, judging by how tight his pants were getting as he watched Jubilee. But he fucked up, and he knew it, and he needed to use someone to feel like his almighty, dominant, terrorizing self again.

"You remind me of someone, little girl," he said, sidling up next to her.

Their thighs were touching. He could hear her heart beating. It was relaxed, but he knew it wouldn't be in a few moments.

"Really...hiccup…like, who," Jubilee slurred.

Her eyes were bigger than her lips apparently. He liked girls like that.

"An ex-girlfriend named Tabby Smith. She was a chatterbox too. Same powers, more or less. She could make plasma explosions from her hands. Can I see your hands?" he asked.

Jubilee looked at him suspiciously.

"You're not one of those creepy guys…hiccup…they warn us to stay away from that, like, hang around playgrounds wearing trench coats, are you," she slurred.

"Of course not. Would Professor Xavier let me in as a guest if I was? He can read minds and weed out the bad people," Victor said.

He didn't mention that he was one of the few mutants immune to Xavier's mind reading. He also left out that in his opinion Xavier was such an optimistic sap about mutant nature he'd be willing to give the worst scum of mutant kind a second chance in hopes of reforming them.

"OK, I see your point," she said, and held out her hands.

Victor enveloped both of them in his paws, cutting off the source of any energy she might try to unleash against him.

"Are you going to read my fortune," Jubilee giggled and hiccupped.

"You have a short life line. It's gettin' shorter by the moment. A fortune teller named Destiny told me my destiny was to die by a needle with my only remainin' family. I wonder if she was talkin' about my brother. I don't think I'm gonna die, though. I'm gonna live forever," Victor said.

"No one…hiccup…lives forever," she said.

"Well, not around me, they don't," Victor said.

Jubilee looked up at him groggily, but suspiciously. He could smell nervousness, mixed with the vapor of her near overdose of vodka.

"I'm getting tired. I think I'm going to go to bed now," she said.

"But gee, Jubes, you're drunk; you wouldn't wanna be caught by a hall monitor breaking the rules and get kicked out of the only family you've got. An orphan like you, out on the streets, it could be bad," Victor said.

"There is a hall monitor. Cyclops-Scott Summers patrols around here at night. And he has great hearing, so maybe you should…let go of me now," she warned.

She wasn't a complete moron, even if she was drunk and naïve. He noticed she'd stopped hiccupping.

"But I don't think you want to get caught by the overgrown hall monitor either. It pains me to say it, but the worst thing you could do now is scream. You've been a very bad girl, haven't you?" he leered.

He smelled fear and panic. To him they were as tantalizing as prime rib and apple pie to a normal man. He dug his claws into her wrists, breaking skin. The smell of her blood made him breathe harder.

"What do you…what do you want from me?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I just wanna…play with you. I like to play with my food first. But if I eat ya, will I just get hungry again two hours later?" he taunted.

"You're not just a pervert! You're a racist pervert!" she said.

"Who says I was talkin' about sex? I need somethin' deeper. Now lie down," he said.

She gulped and stared back at him.

"I don't believe you. No. Not like this. I don't want it to be like this," she said.

"I don't fuckin' care," Victor said, angry that she was defying him.

He grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pushed her on to the ground. She was crying now, and he could smell the salt of her tears. The coppery scent of her blood beckoned him even more.

Victor climbed on top of her and felt her helpless beneath him. He was drooling by now. He twisted her head to the side by her silky black hair.

He sunk his fangs into her neck, breaking her open. Life poured into his mouth, with its familiar taste of iron. The anger that had been boiling in him faded the closest thing he ever felt to calm as he drank.

Jubilee was whimpering slightly. He was both trying to ignore it and excited by it at the same time. He hated her weakness but loved how strong it made him feel.

"Victor Creed, you're a dead man!" Scott Summers shouted.

The door was burst open by the blinding light of one of his old enemies' eye-beams. Victor had been hit by them a few times over the years. They caused some of the worst pain he'd ever experienced.

Victor pulled Jubilee in front of him, using her as a human shield. He smiled wickedly at Scott. The guy acted like a robot so often, it made it much more satisfying to get him mad.

"Can't hit me without hittin' your frail. What's your strategy now, Boy Scout?" Victor sneered.

"You are the lowest of the low, using an innocent girl to hide behind. Stop being such a coward and be a man," Cyclops said.

"I ain't gonna fall for that one. And Jubilee here ain't so innocent. Especially not after tonight. She'll never be innocent again," Victor taunted.

"I will never let you hurt another child. Not like you did to me," Scott said, his voice lowering to a whisper.

It was hard to read Summers' facial expressions because of the red visor he always wore to focus his beams. No one could ever see his eyes. It made it hard to tell if he was crying. Victor hoped he was.

Suddenly, Victor was blindsided by a kaleidoscopic explosion in front of him. He yowled and was thrown back. The Jubilee bitch had enough left in her to set off her plasma blasts.

He opened his eyes and saw he was surrounded by more X-Men. Beast was right in front of him. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and everything started to go groggy.

"I want a blood sample from him. I have a theory," Beast said, and everything went black.

To Be Continued

**Author's Note: There will be more Wade in the next chapter. **


	18. Chapter 18

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 18

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Reviews are much appreciated!

**Beast's Laboratory, the Next Morning**

Wade opened the door to the room he'd been recuperating in and quickly surveyed the hallway. He didn't see anyone. He walked into an empty office and closed the door. He dialed the number for Mr. Jones.

"Mr. Jones? Hey, it's Wade Wilson. Listen, I know I turned down the last 4 assignments from Mr. Fisk, but I need to let you know…"

"Your employment has been terminated," Mr. Jones coldly interrupted.

"Terminated?! But I'm his number one mercenary! I have an excuse. I'm in a hospital now because I was thrown in a vat of acid and got deformed. I can get a doctor's note, really!"

"That's sounds suspiciously like the origin story for The Joker. I'm not interested in your personal problems. Mr. Fisk no longer requires your services. You've been replaced with someone more…reliable," Mr. Jones said.

"Reliable? Reliable! I am damn reliable! Well, except for me only being willing to kill "bad" people. Who's my replacement?" Wade asked.

"I'd prefer not to say, but as gossip travels fast in our circles and you'll find out anyhow: It's the assassin who calls himself Bullseye."

"Bullseye? Lester? You replaced me with Lester? Just because he can kill people with paperclips and has no moral qualms about anything doesn't make him better at our job. Oh, hey, am I going to get any kind of employment reference from your organization? Please," Wade asked.

"No, and if you try to mention us on your resume, Mr. Fisk will disavow any connection to you. Have a good day," Mr. Jones said, hanging up.

Wade slowly walked back to his room. He realized he had lost his looks, his girlfriend, and his livelihood within the past 24 hours. If "bad things happen in threes," did that mean the worst was over?

He needed to find something funny about this. He needed to find something to laugh about, so he wouldn't cry. He tried to find a punch line, but there wasn't one. He was out of "material."

Wade crawled into the fetal position on his bed. He clutched his knees against his chest. He started to laugh, like the "hyena" he had once been accused of being. He didn't know how much time passed before Beast poked his head through the door.

"Hey, can I join the X-Men? I really, really need a job," Wade said.

"Highly unlikely. You're not a mutant. And your group isn't exactly in Professor Xavier's good graces now," Beast replied.

Wade sat up, frowning.

"What happened now? I thought bad things only came in threes?" Wade asked.

"Come with me. Xavier wants a word with you," Beast said.

Wade gulped, thinking of his last phone call. He followed Beast to the hallway outside of Professor Xavier's office. Victor sat sullenly next to the guy wearing a visor. He was wearing handcuffs.

"What did you do this time?" Wade asked him.

"Fourteen year old," Victor replied laconically.

"Thank you Roman Polanski. Ironic how that reference is oddly timely. Emma dumped me last night," Wade said.

"I don't care," Victor said.

**Professor Xavier's Office **

Emma apprehensively sat in Professor Xavier's office. She had heard bits and pieces of what Victor had done, but wasn't sure how much was gossip and how much was fact. Victor was led by Scott into the office wearing handcuffs.

Wade was escorted in by Beast. She looked at him expectantly, but he sat on the other side of Victor. She hadn't felt this snubbed by a choice of seating since she was in a junior high school cafeteria.

"Why do I feel like I'm in a principal's office?" Wade asked.

"Because this is a principal's office. Or a headmaster's office to be exact. Do you know why I've called you all here?" Xavier asked.

Wade looked guilty. Emma felt guilty, but tried to hide it. Victor looked smug.

"Is this a trick question?" Wade asked.

Victor put his feet up on Xavier's desk. He gave him a challenging stare. If he wasn't in cuffs, he probably would have put his hands behind his head.

"I open my home to you. I offer you shelter and care, and this is how I'm repaid? What do you have to say for yourself Mr. Creed? Why did you attack Jubilation Lee last night?" Xavier asked.

Emma sensed a combination of sadness and rage coming from the Professor. His eyes darted to her. He probably could feel her "listening" to his emotions.

"Because she was home. And I was hungry," Victor replied, with an arrogant smirk.

"Normal people try the kitchen first," Wade said.

"Whatever Victor did last night, I can assure you I had nothing to do with it," Emma said.

Victor growled at her. Even though he was chained up, she did feel nervous next to him. Whatever sense of teamwork they had built up together had dissolved. She instinctively looked to Wade.

"Deal with him yourself, Princess," her now ex-boyfriend said acidly.

"Please don't insult me by feigning innocence Miss Frost. All three of you have blood on your hands. All three of you are dangerous," Xavier said.

"Hey I'm not an assassin...anymore," Wade said defensively.

"Only because you were fired this morning," Professor Xavier sighed.

"You heard that in my mind, didn't you?" Wade asked sheepishly.

"Jesus Wade, you really are on some kind of losing streak. Not that I care," Victor said.

"Well, I'm an upstanding graduate student from a good family," Emma said.

Professor Xavier gave her a look with a cocked eyebrow that could freeze the Caribbean into Antarctica.

"The stripping is just to pay for my degree," Emma said, squirming.

"_I know about the premeditated vigilante attack on Team X. I know about your deal with Jason Stryker to kill Victor yourself afterwards_," Xavier's thoughts entered hers.

Emma had a few bad experiences with people finding out she was a telepath. The reactions she got ranged from disgust to anger. It had frustrated her, but for the first time she understood why others resented telepaths. It was violating for someone else to be able to enter your mind, and to know there was no privacy in your own head.

She was afraid the Professor would tell Victor of her betrayal. But he wouldn't stoop that low. Would he?

"Well, gee Charlie, you already know what I am and you let me in anyhow. So much for your idiot faith in mutant kind," Victor sneered.

"I know exactly what you are. You're a natural born predator. That in no way absolves what you have done over the years. However, I may have a solution. Is it perhaps you haven't been hungry as much as thirsty? That there may be an underlying reason for why you're so bloodthirsty?" Professor Xavier asked.

Victor frowned but leaned forward. She couldn't read his mind either, but by his body language he seemed wary but interested.

"Whatdya mean?" Victor asked.

"Beast has been running tests on the blood of both you and Wade. As you both have healing factor, he hypothesized you would both have an elevated white blood cell count. However, in your case in particular, you have a shortage of red blood cells. This imbalance may be what causes you to seek the blood of others," Professor Xavier said.

"Well, I've always been imbalanced," Wade said.

"Bullshit. Team X ran more tests on me than I can count and they never mentioned anythin' bein' out of whack," Victor said.

"Team X modified us to be living killing machines. It makes sense that Stryker would want to keep you as bloodthirsty as possible. You know I used to like steak well-done, but after I got the healing factor I got a craving for medium rare. Coincidence? I think not!" Wade said.

"And what's your proposed solution?" Emma said.

"Beast can create a synthetic liquid from human marrow with enough red blood cells to calm you down," Xavier said.

"Calm? Maybe I don't want to be calm. I like the way I am," Victor said.

"No you don't. I don't have to read your mind to sense that," Xavier said.

"What about me? Can you fast-forward me through to the acceptance phase? Make me calm, too?" Wade asked.

"You're still a loose cannon, Mr. Wilson. The only thing worse than an assassin, is an unemployed assassin. I would only go through with that sort of mind control at this time if you agreed to become a complete pacifist. You're simply too dangerous otherwise," Xavier said.

"You really do like to play God, don't you," Emma asked.

"Only a benevolent one," he replied.

Emma wasn't so sure.

"And what are your 'benevolent' plans for me?" she asked.

"You said you were a studying to be a teacher. This school needs someone to teach economics for the next, I don't know, 15 years, provided you pass our moral requirements. Jean Grey conducts the screening on those," he said.

"Moral requirements, you've failed already," Wade said bitterly.

Wade's sarcasm stung more than anything Professor X had said or thought. How could someone who had been so sweet turn sour so quickly? She could only blame herself.

"Look, I understand these are serious things to commit to. I will give you time to think them over. Let me know by 5 today," Xavier said.

"And if we decide to say no?" Emma asked.

"Well, it's my responsibility to not allow any dangerous mutants out into the world. Interpret that how you will," Xavier said.

**To Be Continued**


	19. Chapter 19

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 19

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker. Reviews are much appreciated!

**X-Mansion**

Emma, Wade and Victor sat in a room, mulling over Professor Charles Xavier's offers. Blackmail was more like it. Victor had always been skeptical of Xavier's doo-gooder stance, and not just because he had fought opposite him for years. No one was that pure and altruistic.

"Is Xavier listening inside our heads to us now? It's not that I don't want to be the center of attention, I just don't want to be the center of HIS attention," Wade said.

"Don't matter to me. He can't get into my head," Victor said.

Or could he? The thought of the promise of permanent calm through bioengineered blood was sounding appealing. Not that he trusted the Professor.

Emma put her fingers to her forehead.

"I could change to diamond and mentally keep him out for sure, but then I couldn't feel if he was listening to us or not if I concentrated. He's not spying on us now, but I think if we left the room that would change. Wade's our weakest link as far as hiding our intentions," Emma said.

Victor watched them glare at each other.

"Wade's always been a weakest link," Victor said, more out of the old habit of insulting his old teammate than anything else.

"Says the blood junkie. So are you going to take his offer and give you Type O Valium and turn you into his lap cat?" Wade said.

"I ain't a junkie. I'm…I'm thinkin' about it," Victor said.

He wasn't the type to mull things over. Decisions were things he tended to make on instinct, not self-reflective introspection. On the one hand he didn't trust or like Xavier. Who knew what mind-altering materials the guy would put in his "Tru Blood?" On the other hand, the promise of calm was tempting. The rage and hunger that boiled beneath his surface was tiring.

Victor was surprised he'd never made the connection himself that his bloodlust may have a biological cause. He just assumed it was "natural". He had been fine with knowing that drinking blood made him happy without questioning why, however fleeting the effect was.

"What about you Wade?" Emma asked.

Wade held one of his gnarled hands in front of his face. He curled and uncurled his fingers. Then he pressed his index fingers together.

"I don't even have my own fingerprints left. My skin is gone, my job is gone, and my entire fucking identity is gone. There's hardly anything left of me. My emotions may be messy and frustrating and painful, but they're mine. I'm not handing them over to a telepath ever again," Wade said, staring at Emma.

Emma pointedly looked away from him. She looked haughty, but Victor could smell guilt. It reeked louder than the Christian Dior Poison perfume she doused herself in.

"Well, I'm not going to become an indentured servant out here either. If I'm going to mold the minds of children, it will be in my own image, not that of a bald, handicapped control-freak who pretends to be a saint but destroys freewill," Emma said.

"Freewill. If we don't got that, we may as well be in a cage. I ain't takin' his offer. It ain't worth it," Victor said, his instinct to run free winning out over his instinct to get a permanent source of blood.

"So, how do we get past the mind of Professor Pseudo-God?" Wade asked.

"The air vents are a possibility for at least getting out of this room," Emma said.

Wade stood up and stared at one of them near the ceiling. Emma came up behind him. She put her finger to her lips in Victor's direction. Then she turned into diamond and whacked him on the back of the head with her arm. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Jesus Emma, you've gotten ruthless. I kind of like it," Victor said.

Emma knelt down next to Wade, cradling his knotted face in one of her diamond hands.

"If he was awake, he'd be broadcasting thoughts like a homing signal. We could leave him here, or take him with us," Emma said.

"He'll slow us down," Victor said.

"But Wade knows too much, as oxymoronic as that sounds, to just leave him behind," she said.

"Is that the real reason ya can't leave him here," Victor asked.

"Possibly," she said.

"I'll drag him. I don't have anythin' to drown or decapitate him with to put him to sleep permanently anyhow," Victor said.

"Is that the real reason?" Emma asked, smirking.

"Fuck you, Frost," Victor said, hoisting Wade up.

**6 Months Later, Team X Headquarters**

General Stryker inserted another needle into the back of Jason's neck. He extracted more spinal fluid. He'd done the move so often he barely even thought about it.

He didn't think of Jason as human anymore. He was like a chunk of meat that stared into nothing with unseeing, odd-colored eyes. The constant stream of drool from his mouth was one of the few reminders that he was technically still alive. He was more like a zombie than anything else.

Director Colcord wasn't much better himself. He only spoke or reacted when Stryker ordered him to. The spinal fluid from Jason ensured his obedience.

"Call Ed Buckman at the Hellfire Club. It's time we handled the Sentinel Program issue," Stryker ordered.

Colcord complied and dialed.

"Hello. It's Director Colcord. Can I speak to Ed Buckman, please?"

"This is Sebastian Shaw, his former business partner. I'm sorry, didn't you hear the news? Ed had a horrible accident and died last week. I've taken over his affairs. Can I help you with something?"

"Give me the phone," Stryker whispered.

"Oh, maybe you should talk to General Stryker," Colcord said, handing the phone to him.

"General? You've done well for yourself, last time we spoke you were a Major," Shaw said.

"Oh I've climbed the ladder with good old-fashioned...brainpower. How have you been?" Stryker said, applying a few drops from the needle to a hole on Colcord's neck.

"Wonderful. I'm getting married again," Shaw said.

"Is this your fifth?" Stryker asked.

Sebastian Shaw had a reputation for being one of the most notorious womanizers on the East Coast. He had several short marriages to women either significantly younger, significantly richer, or both. A few had died under "mysterious circumstances".

"No. This will be my fourth. I had an annulment. Perhaps you've…already met my fiancée?" Shaw said slyly.

Stryker figured she was probably another Hellfire Club stripper.

"Probably not. I don't frequent the same establishments you do. What did happen to Ed?" Stryker asked.

"Oh it was an awful accident. He walked off of a subway platform right into an incoming C Train," Shaw said, the tone in his voice sounding anything but sad.

"Really? I wasn't aware multi-millionaires took the subway," Stryker said, frowning suspiciously.

"Well, Ed was always frugal. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to call you myself. I looked through his files since his unfortunate demise, and I see he earmarked $10,000,000 to something called 'The Sentinel Program.' It seems rather unusual since Hellfire is involved with the sale and manufacture of armaments. We don't provide capital to government projects."

"Oh that, well that was a mistake. Feel free to break the contract," Stryker said.

There was a silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"Hmm, this is odd. You seem rather nonchalant about me taking away $10,000,000 in funding." Sebastian said.

"Well, you know the military. The Pentagon pays $1,000 for a toilet seat. It's all overpriced," Stryker said.

"Alright then. I don't think this is the last of our doing business together, though," Sebastian

"Nice talking to you. And Congratulations on your engagement. Let's hope the fourth one's the charm," Stryker said.

"Oh, I believe it will be. She's a real catch," Shaw said.

**Sebastian Shaw's Upper East Side Townhouse**

Emma sat at a boudoir, going over the proposed wedding guest list. Her fiancé entered the room. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Sebastian darling, your list of proposed guests is 100 spots longer than mine. Do you honestly have that many friends?" she asked.

"Those aren't friends, my dear. Everyone knows weddings are really about networking with business associates," he said.

"Funny, I thought they were an excuse for women to wear a ball gown and be Queen for a day," she said.

"But you're the Queen of all of my days," he said, coming up behind her and draping his arms around her shoulders.

"Oh you sweet talker, you. Norman Osborne? You're inviting Norman Osborne? The man is a drunk," she said.

"He's a billionaire with lifetime Hellfire Club membership. Plus, he moonlights as the Green Goblin. I don't want to get on his bad side," he said.

"I knew the Green Goblin was a member, I just didn't realize which member. I suppose we must invite him then," she said.

Shaw took her list and frowned at it.

"Victor Creed I can tolerate. He's someone I'd like to cultivate for future Hellfire missions. But Wade Wilson? Don't you know it's tacky to invite ex-lovers to your wedding?" Sebastian said.

Emma felt guilt tightening in her stomach.

"I feel like I'm damned if I invite him and damned if I don't. A rather large percentage of the females on your list are former conquests of yours, and I haven't batted a false eyelash at that," she said.

"But they're women I still have a professional relationship with that are actually sane and behave with…decorum," he said.

"You're right. Wade would make a scene. I'll cross him off the list." she said, sighing.

**Victor Creed's Apartment, Several Weeks Later**

Victor sat in his apartment watching TV. He was drinking a cup of pig's blood he bought from a local butcher. He had been experimenting with different kinds of animal blood to see if they satisfied his cravings and centered him.

They worked a little bit. He felt slightly less anxious. But nothing compared to the way it felt to drink fresh from the neck of a human, or even better another mutant. He felt like he was self-medicating with Flintstones Vitamins.

There was a loud knock on the door.

"Who the fuck is it?" Victor growled.

He wasn't used to having visitors.

"Avon calling!" Wade answered.

Victor rolled his eyes, but got up and opened the door. Wade entered. He was covered with bandages, a hat, and sunglasses. He hurriedly took them off.

"Whady'a want this time?" Victor asked.

"Hey I barely ever visit. Do you know how hard it is to get a cab looking like this? My options are Freddy Krueger or potential terrorist," Wade said, pointing to his scarred skin.

"So get a car of your own," Victor said.

"That would be great except there's no parking in Manhattan, and I still can't get a job to pay for one. Couldn't you have let me get one of those psionic image-inducers from the X-Men before you and Emma knocked me unconscious? Speaking of which, did you catch the New York Times Wedding Announcements? Emma's marrying Sebastian Shaw," Wade said, thrusting a newspaper at Creed.

"Well, gee, I normally never miss the wedding announcements. But yeah, I knew because she invited me," Victor said sarcastically.

"She invited you but not me? What the hell! I am so never dating a chick that's a stripper again. Porn stars and hookers are still ok," Wade said.

"Read it and weep," Victor said, handing over the formal announcement and invitation he'd received.

"_Sebastian Shaw, of the New York Shaws, proudly announces his upcoming engagement to Emma Frost of the Toronto and Boston Frosts_. Boston Frosts: sounds like a hockey team_. It will be his fourth marriage and her first. _Wow, because you know a guy's got a great track record when he's had four divorces already. _The two met at one of his many workplaces. He is a prominent industrialist and she is a dancer and graduate student in education at Columbia University. _I love how dancer is a euphemism for 'dry humps guys for money'," Wade seethed.

"Bitter! Party of one," Victor mocked.

Wade opened the invitation. It had a black and white chess theme. Wade frowned.

"Victor Creed plus one? Plus one? Doesn't she know you by now? Like you can get a date, outside of a Junior High School," Wade said.

Victor snatched the invitation back.

"I can find a date, thank you very much. You reek of jealousy. No wonder she didn't invite ya," Victor said.

"You aren't actually going to this? What kind of a friend are you?" Wade asked pathetically.

"I ain't yer friend Wade! I never have been. Now get out of my place before I go back to drinkin' real blood again!" Victor snarled.

Wade walked out the door and said: "Fine. But I will know vengeance! Mark my words; I will have my ven…"

Victor slammed the door on him.

**To Be Continued**

**Author's Notes: I know Tru Blood won't be invented until recently, but couldn't resist the reference. I hope the Sebastian Shaw/Emma Frost wedding doesn't seem too rushed, but I did jump ahead in the story half a year**


	20. Chapter 20

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 20

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker.

Thank You for Any Reviews!

**Victor Creed's Apartment, Several Weeks Later**

Victor Creed looked through his checkbook as much as his nails would allow. He was almost out of money. He had been counting on Jason Stryker's remaining payment to get through the rest of the year. Unfortunately, he couldn't collect money from a dead man.

But was he really dead? No one had seen actually seen a body. They had taken Emma's word that she couldn't sense him anymore, but could Emma actually be trusted?

Victor's nostrils flared. He picked up a scent that he swore smelled like Jason, commingled with the signature of someone familiar that he couldn't quite place. He walked to his door and tensed in anticipation.

There was a strong rap on the door. Victor flung it open, expecting to see his old employer. Instead, a tall man stood in front of the doorway.

Two little blonde girls stood on either side of him. One had short hair. They both looked to be about 5 or 6 years old.

"Why Mr. Creed. Your reflexes are exemplary. But I already knew that," the man said.

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Victor asked.

"I'm Mr. Essex. Nathaniel Essex. But you can call me Mr. Sinister. I have a proposition for you. A paying one. May I come in?"

At the word "paying" Victor relaxed a bit. He gestured for Sinister to enter. The two little girls followed.

"Kitty!" exclaimed the short-haired one.

She grabbed one of his massive legs and hugged him. Victor sneered. He didn't like children quite that young. He would have violently kicked her off, but something about the way she smelled intrigued him. He pushed her away with more care than usual. The other little girl sulked, with her nose in the air and her arms crossed.

Sinister sat at Victor's table. He had a smudge of white on his face, like clown makeup. Then Victor realized that paleness was his actual skin, and the rest of his face was coated in makeup. He sat formally, more like the way men carried themselves in the 19th century than with the slouchy casualness of modern times. His eyes looked red in the dim light of the apartment.

"What do you want to hire me for?" Victor asked.

"Well you certainly don't waste time with small talk. I'd like to hire you for what you do best: killing. Except I think of it as culling the herd. You see, I'm a firm believer in Darwin's theories of evolution and survival of the fittest. Mutants like us…I'm sure you can smell I'm a mutant as well…are supposed to be the next rung on the evolutionary ladder. It seems some of the mutants that are passing on their genes are the wrong sort. There are no natural predators to snuff out our weakest links. So I'm looking for a rather unnaturally strong predator, such as you to join my group: the Marauders. Someone capable of creating a bloodbath," Sinister said silkily.

Victor was interested. He didn't want to appear too eager, though. It wouldn't help with payment negotiations. He sat down across from Sinister.

The short haired girl sat down next to him, babbling: "It's all about the blood. The blood is the life. Blood! Blood! Blood!"

Sinister grabbed her, whispering in her ear to "hush." He never took his eyes off of Victor though. They weren't red because of any reflective glare. They actually were a dark ruby color.

"And how much are you gonna pay me?" Victor asked.

"A thousand a head, plus bonuses," Sinister said, winding his long fingers through both girls' hair.

"Are you kiddin' me? That's nothin. I get 50 times that for one casualty," Creed sneered.

"Please do not play the greedy mercenary card with me. You murder because you need something from it, not to line your wallet. I can give you what you need. Do you like my children? There is so much less DNA damage in the young. Their blood is so much more nourishing at this age. Join me and I will give you an endless supply. I think you're quite familiar with their genetic stock," Sinister purred.

He pushed up the girls' sleeves, and revealed needle marks. They looked like bite marks. He gave Victor a conspirational grin.

"Hurry up with the grown-up stuff. I'm bored!" the long-haired girl said brattily.

"Is this going to hurt again? I don't like it when it hurts," the short-haired girl said.

"Jason Stryker. She smells almost exactly like Jason," Victor said, grabbing the long-haired girl.

Almost like him, but more powerful and more intense.

"This is Regan. She's technically Jason's female clone. I had such high hopes for him. I've only been able to clone females so far. The X-Chromosome is less fragile than the Y-Chromosome, not to bore you with scientific details," Sinister said.

"I thought Jason was a female clone," Victor said.

"Let go of me you moron! I'm genius-etically better!" Regan shouted.

Victor let her go. Too bad she had Jason's personality. He turned to the other girl and smiled, extending his hand out. She stared at him for a moment, but came forward.

"Tabitha Smith. Do ya remember me sweetheart? Not the parts about tryin' ta kill ya, but the good parts," he asked, thinking of his deceased ex sort-of-girlfriend.

"Clones do not have the same memories. I call this one Meltdown," Sinister said.

"You're really furry," Meltdown said.

She nuzzled against him as if she was about to take a nap. Her gene pool was still way too trusting. He wasn't feeling "sexual" towards her. He was thinking of the phrase "comfort food."

"So I get a permanent food supply, and in exchange, who do ya want me to massacre?" Victor asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Morlocks?" Sinister asked.

**One Month Later, the Morlock Tunnels**

Marrow huddled in a corner, listening to the screams. Last year she would have rushed out to defend her people. Except she didn't feel like they were "her people" anymore. Nobody felt like "her people" these days.

She crouched in a corner and hid behind the armor of her own twisted bones. The ugliness inside of her was supposed to keep out the ugliness of the rest of the world. It couldn't keep out the noise of the other Morlocks dying though.

There was very little light underground. Perhaps that was a blessing. She wouldn't have to see the carnage.

The only visibility came from around the corner. A small light bulb cast a grey glow into the crevasse she had tried to find shelter in. The light disappeared as a shadow loomed in front of her.

Marrow braced herself. She extended shards of bone in anticipation. She may not fight for the others, but she would fight for herself.

"Hiya…Marrow isn't it?" a familiar voice purred.

"Victor? Victor Creed? You can't hurt me. I let you go, remember?" she said.

"I can't hurt you? I can't? There are so many people tryin' to tell me what I can and can't do. General Stryker. His asshole son. Magneto. And now Mister Sinister. Of course they pay me, so I'm supposed to listen to em.' But I'm so fuckin' tired of people tellin' me what to do," Victor said.

"What if I asked nicely?" Marrow asked.

"Ya mean beg? A whole lotta beggin' goin' on tonight," he said.

She couldn't see him step closer, but she could feel him inching nearer. She heard him sniff the air. The room got hotter.

"I'm a warrior. I don't beg," she said.

"Warriors don't cower in a corner," he sneered.

"I wasn't cowering. I was protecting myself," she said.

"But not the rest of yer friends?" he asked.

"They're not my friends anymore. I joined the Morlocks because I was too ugly for the rest of the world. Stryker said he'd make me look human, but he only made me half-normal. I'm too ugly for the surface and too pretty for the Morlocks now," she said.

"Why would ya wanna be a Morlock? Sinister says they're genetic garbage. You don't smell like garbage to me. Ya smell like…life," he said.

She was backed up against the wall now. Her shards were still extended for protection, but she didn't know if she should keep him away.

"Does that mean you'll let me live? I let you live before. It's only fair," she said.

"It's only fair if ya give me somethin' in return. Yer nickname is Marrow. Do ya know what marrow does? It makes red blood cells. I don't have enough of my own. I thought if I tried younger blood, it'd be better. It only tastes a little better ta me. But you smell like you're just made of nothin' but red blood cells," he said.

"You want to drink my blood? That's creepy," she said.

"You have a rib cage stickin' out of ya and I'm the creepy one? I just need a taste is all. Somethin' I've hunted for on my own and not had given ta me with strings attached from another mutant control freak. That and I need a date for a non-friend's wedding," he asked.

"Ooh a wedding! I've never been to one of those. OK, bite away," she said.

Victor grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her head back. Marrow felt his fangs against her neck. It wasn't like horror movies where the vampires only put two holes in a victim's neck. She felt his teeth sink into her in four different areas. She felt his massive weight press into her, heavier and heavier. She let out a scream of her own, which mixed with the shrieks outside. And then the screams outside didn't matter anymore.

**Two Months Later, the Plaza Hotel**

Emma stared at her reflection. She debated if she should wear her signature silver or more traditional red lipstick. Her wedding gown would have been considered conservative if it wasn't so low cut. She decided to go with the silver.

There was a knock on the door. It was her father Emmett Frost. He entered, smiling.

"My little girl, all grown up. If only your mother and sister Kayla were alive to see you today. Are you sure you want to wear silver lipstick? It makes you look cheap," he said.

She wanted to come back with a sharp retort, but resisted. After their years of estrangement, he had a lot of nerve to order her around. She figured he had only agreed to give her away because it would make him look bad if he skipped his daughter's High Society wedding.

"Fine, I'll switch to something more conventional. We must keep up appearances and stamp out any semblance of individuality," she said dryly.

He stared at her appraisingly.

"You seem rather odd for a bride. They're either walking on air or nervous wrecks. You just seem…unhappy," he said.

"You raised me to be a Frost. We don't show normal emotions," she said, as she changed her lipstick.

"You could behave with decorum and pretend this is the happiest day of your life," he said.

The Wedding March started to play.

"I will. It's show time," she said.

He stiffly took her arm, and they started to walk towards the aisle.

**To Be Continued **

**Author's Note: I dropped a subtle hint about Mister Sinister earlier. **


	21. Chapter 21

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 21

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker.

Thank You for Any Reviews!

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay. My internet connection was broken.**

**Ballroom, the Plaza Hotel**

Emma walked down the aisle, feeling everyone's gaze on her. Emma was grateful she was wearing a veil. She normally didn't mind attention. As an aspiring teacher and recently retired exotic dancer it would have been ironic if she feared the spotlight. At this moment in time though, she felt like she was in a pressure cooker, under an extra-strength microscope, and surrounded by an army of paparazzi. She wasn't an attention seeker like…well, like Wade.

She scanned the crowd. Most of the faces were unfamiliar. The people were verbally quiet, but she was flooded by their thoughts. The sensation was overwhelming and she felt a nosebleed coming on. She could not allow herself to bleed in front of 300 people. Not today.

She took her place in front of the Episcopalian priest next to Sebastian. He was beaming, but it was more of a smug, possessive smile. She lifted her veil up, praying to not start gushing Scarlett red.

Emma overheard a woman think: "_She's such a beautiful bride_…"

Emma smiled in response. Perhaps wedding-day attention wasn't so bad.

"_If I had as much plastic surgery as she did, I'd look beautiful too_," the woman in the crowd finished.

The priest began to recite the words to the ceremony: "Dearly beloved. We have come here together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman n Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage…"

As the priest continued, the magnitude of what she was doing was finally hitting her. Had she rushed into this too quickly? Was Sebastian Shaw really "The One"?

Shaw performed his portion: "In the name of God, I Sebastian Shaw, take you, Emma Grace Frost, to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow."

"_Until we are parted by death, my ass. What is this, marriage number 8 for Shaw_?" someone else in the audience thought.

"I Emma Grace Frost take you…" she said.

"_Wade Wilson,"_ she thought.

"…Sebastian Shaw, to be my husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for richest, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death," Emma said.

"_Eh, I give these two a year until the divorce, depending on how good the pre-nup is_," someone in the audience thought.

"By the power vested in me by God and the State of New York, I know pronounce you man and wife," the priest said.

They kissed. It was affectionate, but passionless. It was nowhere close to what she had felt with Wade when he was in his prime. Triumphant music played, and they walked back down the aisle, arm in arm.

**A Half an Hour Later, at the Reception **

Victor dragged Marrow through the crowd of people. He had noticed touching her seemed to relax her. He touched her not out of affection, but to control her. Or did he?

The guests surrounding him sipped pretentious, fruity drinks and babbled about things like the Standard and Poor Index and idle gossip. Victor fought off boredom by looking for food, if you could even call the Nouvelle-Cuisine-Sushi-Overpriced-Appetizer-Crap food.

The scents of the guests were distracting. The place smelled like expensive perfume, Old Money, champagne, and mushrooms stuffed with lobster.

"Could you slow down a little? This is the first wedding I've ever been to. I kind of want to enjoy it," Marrow said.

"The weddin's already over. This is the reception," Victor said.

"Well it's my first wedding reception. I want to enjoy it," she said.

"So grab a napkin as a souvenir. I'm hungry," he said, nostrils flaring as he smelled for meat.

"I thought you ate me before we came," she said loudly.

Several onlookers turned and stared at them. If Victor was capable of embarrassment, he would have been stewing in it. He threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her out of hearing distance.

"No, I drank you. Big difference. That just tames my bloodlust. I still have an overactive mutant metabolism," he muttered.

"I'm still learning. Aren't you going to introduce me to any of your friends? Are you embarrassed by me?" she asked.

He thought of the word "friends". Hell, the only people he could even consider allies were Emma and Wade, and Marrow had met both of them. Victor remembered how Wade had once bragged about crashing his ex-girlfriend's wedding with his Katana blades. He was surprised he hadn't tried to pull any stunts to break up the ceremony. It seemed out of character for Wade to just disappear without being a drama queen.

"These people ain't my friends. I don't have any, and my boss thinks you're genetic garbage that's already dead, so I ain't gonna introduce ya to him either. But he wasn't on the guest list," Victor said.

"I need to pee," she said.

Another crowd of people turned to look at them disapprovingly. Victor growled in frustration. The guests backed away from him. Victor smiled.

"Actually, a bathroom break would be a good idea. I'm…thirsty," Victor said, winking at her.

She nodded in understanding. They found a small bathroom and entered it. Victor locked the door. He ran his fingers over her neck. His claws lengthened in anticipation.

"Sometimes I feel like you're just using me for my blood," she said morosely.

"Nah, of course not. I'm usin ya for sex too," he said.

"There doesn't seem to be much difference between the two for you," she said.

"Then why do ya let me?" he asked.

She didn't seem physically vulnerable like his usual targets. Emotionally vulnerable, yes. But not physically.

"I just want someone to not be afraid of me, to not think I'm a monster. I want someone to…touch me," she said.

"Ya say 'monster' like it's a bad thing. I'm a monster and proud of it," he said.

He wrapped his arms around her and unzipped her dress. It revealed her unnaturally pink skin that wasn't covered in makeup. She laced her own arms around him.

"Why would anyone want to be a monster?" she whispered in his ear.

"Because people are afraid of monsters, and it's better to be feared than to be loved. If people are afraid enough of ya, you can do anythin," he said.

"I'd rather be loved," she said.

Victor bit into her. Her blood tasted richer than anything else he'd ever had in his century-plus long life. It tasted like "home."

He lifted up his head momentarily and groaned: "You're loved right now, sweetheart. You're loved right now."

In his twisted, Victor-ish way, he meant it.

"Will you hurry up please?! There are people waiting outside," a man's voice called out.

Victor pulled his fangs out of Marrow. Her skin healed instantly. There were still traces of her blood on her body.

"So use a fuckin' tree. I'm busy," Victor growled.

"How dare you. Do you know who I am?" the man yelled.

"Don't know. Don't care," Victor replied.

He zipped Marrow's dress up. If he hadn't just "fed", he would have attacked the guy. Now he had more self-control. He flung the door open, revealing an average-sized man with a strange patterned haircut.

"I'm Norman Osborn! I can buy and sell you 50 times over!"

"I ain't for sale. And I ain't done usin' the water closet," Victor said.

He loomed threateningly towards Norman. There was something off about his scent. He didn't smell like a mutant, but there was something powerful under the surface. It reminded Victor of the chemicals in a battery, mixed with the whiskey in his hand.

"Water closet? Were you born in the 19th century?" Norman asked.

Marrow joined him in the door frame, wrapping her arm around his waist. Norman's beady eyes shifted between the two. Victor knew what he was assuming.

"Well actually, yeah. And as ya can see, we ain't done yet," Victor said.

His territorial instincts were kicking in. Even if he had never seen the bathroom before in his life, he felt like he was defending his "property".

"You're starting to make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry," Norman said.

"Why, do ya turn into a green monster with purple pants and anger management issues?" Victor said sarcastically.

"Funny you should say that," Norman replied.

He started smiling creepily. There was something goblinish about his appearance. He stepped forward.

"I don't think we like you much now," Marrow said.

"It's O.K... We don't like you much either," Norman said.

Victor and Norman stared each other down. It was like a Komodo dragon facing off against a tiger. Victor's hands twitched. He felt like he was at war not just with his annoying interloper, but inside himself. His fallback emotions of anger and bloodthirst twisted against the calm he was feeling from Marrow's influence.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, dinner for the Frost-Shaw nuptials is being seated in the Grand Ballroom!" an announcer called out.

"You can have the water closet. Saved by the bell," Victor said, as he led Marrow away, aggressively bumping Norman on his way into the bathroom.

"We'll meet again you know. Someday I'm going to be president. No scratch that, someday I'm going to be head of S.H.I.E.L.D. I'll have an Academy Award Nominated actor playing me in a movie. And you'll rue the day you crossed me. Oh no. There's a spider in here! It's an overgrown tarantula. You did that on purpose! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! AIYEEEEEEE!" Norman ranted.

"I didn't even see a spider in there," Marrow said.

"He's a whack job. Let's eat," Victor said.

**An Hour Later**

Emma stood next to her new husband as various people approached them. She had changed into a white mini-dress she could dance in for the reception. She found the fewer clothes she had on, the freer she felt. Her mouth was getting tired from the forced smiling of the evening.

"Congratulations Sebastian. She's so beautiful," one man said.

"_Gold-digging skank_," the man thought.

"Congratulations. I'm sure you'll be happy together. She's so pretty," a woman said.

"_She's knocked up, isn't she_?" the woman thought.

"Thank you. I'm feeling a little tired. I'll be back in a few moments Sebastian darling," Emma said.

She worked her way through the room, looking for someone, anyone, she actually knew. She spied Victor with his "date" the Morlock who had helped them. She actually seemed to have cleaned up nicely.

"Are you as sick of hearin' congratulations as I am? Like gettin' married is such a big deal. Hell ya can go to Vegas and get hitched by an Elvis impersonator," Victor said.

"Who is Elvis?" Marrow asked.

"Ya don't know who Elvis is?" Victor said.

"No, is he an elf? Are we supposed to hug or do that weird kissing thing where people don't even touch?" Marrow asked.

"It's called air kissing, darling. It's European," Emma said.

"I'm trying to learn etiquette," Marrow said.

"You're trying to learn etiquette…from Victor?" Emma asked, trying to suppress a genuine smile.

Victor flashed her a cold stare.

"I'm just being facetious. It's ironic. Out of all the people here on my wedding day, you're actually the one who knows me the best," she said.

"Yeah, live long enough and allies become enemies and enemies become allies. Or is it friends come and go, but enemies are forever? So this is yer life now? A trophy wife?" Victor asked skeptically.

"I feel like I may as well be spray-painted gold and placed in a box for people to congratulate Sebastian for winning. This is what I was raised to do though, marry well," she said.

"I feel like gaggin' fer sayin' this, but you've got potential. You'd do good in the military. It seems like a waste ta just be some high society do-nothin' socialite," Victor said.

"Thank you," Emma said, realizing how hard it must be for Victor to be semi-nice.

"This kind of feels like a reunion! The only people missing are…"Marrow said.

"HELLO LOVER!" a familiar voice screamed.

There was a barrage of machine gun fire. People started screaming. A chandelier crashed into a table.

"EMMA! Where are you!? You can't just IGNORE me!" Wade shouted over the din.

**To Be Continued **

**Author's Note: I'm admittedly in the middle of a True Blood marathon, so I hope that isn't too overwhelming with Victor's vampire metaphors and Emma's Sookie Stackhouse-esque overhearing of insults. For a Marvel Universe Comic geek-out, I had to fit in Norman Osborn.**


	22. Chapter 22

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 22

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker.

**Thank you so much for any reviews! I'm trying to balance the characters getting "the spotlight."**

**Plaza Hotel Ballroom**

Wade walked through the ballroom, periodically blasting his machine gun. He didn't aim it any of the guests, just at objects calculated to make the most noise when he destroyed them. Everyone seemed to be running away from him. Granted, people tended to do that around gunfire. But dammit, he was losing his "audience."

"Nobody leaves, or I'll start shooting…directly!" he bellowed.

He heard crying mixed in with the terrified screams. He normally didn't like to terrify civilians, but in this case he wanted them to cry like he was doing on the inside. Plus everyone here was either a guest of the woman who'd ripped his heart out or the rival she'd chosen over him, so he wanted to let them suffer.

Wade wasn't sure how big the room was, because its walls were covered in mirrors. He used to love mirrors. Now he hated them. He fired his gun at the wall closest to him, shattering it loudly over the din of the crowd's naked fear.

"Forgive me. I dislike mirrors. They are the playthings of man's vanity. And where is the blushing bride? Oh Auntie Emma, you can't hide in Kansas from me!" he shouted.

He jumped on top of one of the tables. Glass and porcelain broke beneath his feet. He felt a shard pierce his leg which started to bleed and then heal.

"Enough of this. I'm right over here," Emma shouted loudly but coldly.

Wade leapt from table to table following her voice. When he finally located her he saw she was in diamond form. He was disappointed. If she couldn't "feel" anything, it lessened whatever impact he was trying to make.

"How dare you ruin my wedding day, you petulant child," she said.

"Are you disappointed I didn't slink away quietly? Are you afraid to look at me? Show me your real face instead of this diamond shit you hide behind. I have to ask, what kind of a ring do you get for a bride that's already made of diamond? Do you wear an engagement band made of human skin?" Wade asked.

"That's rich coming from a man in a mask. And if you have to ask, you could never afford the karats worthy of me," she said.

"The rich are eccentric. I'm just bat-shit crazy," he replied.

"Wilson, ya fuckin idiot! Why are you crashin' the reception instead of the ceremony'," Victor asked.

Wade noticed Victor was standing next to that Marrow chick from Team X. Victor had a date and he didn't? Plus, she looked over 18. What was wrong with the world?

"Because everyone knows the ceremony is the most boring portion of a wedding. The reception is the fun part. Plus it has the food. One good thing about looking like a freak is I can eat whatever I want now. I spent 10 years on a low carb, low sugar diet. Now that I don't have to give a rat's ass about my appearance, I can pig out on anything. Like wedding cake. MMMM, wedding cake," Wade said.

He leapt on top of the table holding the wedding cake. It was ostentatious and covered in white flowers. Its topper was designed to look like king and queen chess pieces. He extended the blades embedded from his wrists and held them threateningly over the highest layer.

"What is this, a $3,000 decorating job? I love butter cream as much as the next guy, but not that much. Show me your real face or the frosting roses get it," Wade threatened.

"Are we supposed to start fighting now?" Marrow asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. I wanna see how this plays out," Victor said.

"I'm glad I've been your entertainment for the evening," Wade said.

"And to think Sebastian wasted money for a DJ. I'll revert to human form if you'll let my guests go in peace. After I mind wipe them, of course," Emma said.

"I'd rather they left in pieces," Wade said, giggling.

"Look, this is between you and me. What are you trying to accomplish?" Emma said.

Emma took a step forward. Wade locked his brown eyes on her translucent ones. What exactly was he trying to prove? He wasn't even sure himself at this point.

"I want…I want closure. You abandoned me. You fucking abandoned me when I needed you the most," he said.

"I tried to be friends with you, but you pushed me away. And this melodrama isn't helping." she said.

"Friendship isn't enough. You're the love of my life Emma. Well, OK, one of the loves of my life. You're up there with Vanessa and Tabby and Cable," Wade said.

Wade noticed Victor started choking on his drink when he said "Tabby."

"It was fun while it lasted, but did you honestly think we were meant to be together? We have so little in common. I have decorum, common sense and good breeding, and you…don't," she said.

"Of course we were meant to be together! Just because we're not a couple in comic or movie canon doesn't mean we're not destined to be soul mates. Just give us another chance, please," he pleaded.

"Aww, that's so romantic. Why can't you act more like him," Marrow said to Victor.

"Cause I ain't crazy or pussy-whipped," Victor replied.

Emma transformed into her normal skin. He searched her expression to see if he was getting through to her. Her eyes were now quivering as if she was about to cry.

"Wade…I…" she started.

"It's Spiderman! We have to get him!" a familiar voice bellowed into his ear, as a guest leapt from the crowd and into Wade.

Wade was thrown forward directly into the cake. Both men crashed onto the floor. White frosting was everywhere. MMM, butter cream!

"Mr. Osborn!" someone gasped.

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" Osborne cackled.

He was abnormally strong for a man his size. He constricted Wade in a headlock. Wade struggled to breathe. He'd been attacked like this once before, when the Green Goblin had mistaken him for Spider-Man.

Wade remembered his training and grabbed backwards at Osborn's strangely patterned hair. He threw the man forward, flipping him on to the ground. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. Wade took his red and black mask off.

"I think I told you this once before. The name isn't Spiderman. It's Wilson. Wade Wilson. You'll be groaning it later. Since this is a case of mistaken identity, I'll let you live," he said.

"The only name you need to remember is Sebastian Shaw. I know weddings are all about the bride and people tend to forget the groom, but this is ridiculous," Shaw said.

Wade looked and sized up his rival. He was about 6'2" and thick boned. He had a receding hairline and was wearing what looked like a lacy retro-Victorian tuxedo.

"I'd challenge you to fight for her honor, but Emma doesn't have any. And I normally don't fight guys that wear doilies. Prince called. He wants back his outfit from the Purple Rain album cover," Wade said.

The men were inching closer and closer together. The crowd formed a circle around them. Osborn had sat down next to the ruined cake, licking frosting with one hand and drinking directly from a bottle of champagne in the other.

"Now you've destroyed a $250,000 celebration, disparaged me, and insulted my wife's good name. Plus I'm never going to get my security deposit back. We have to fight," Shaw said.

"She's not really your wife until it's consummated," Wade said.

"We consummated it already in a broom closet," Shaw gloated, looking over at Emma.

Wade could see from her expression it was true.

"I don't know what she sees in you besides your bank account. What do you have that I don't? Wade said enviously.

"Oh, I don't know. A billion dollar corporation. Clear skin. Emma," Shaw taunted.

Wade extended his Katana blades. Shaw grinned.

"Let's handle this like gentlemen. It's cowardly for you to use weapons against an unarmed man. Bare knuckles only," Shaw, said putting his hands up in a defensive posture.

"Challenge accepted," Wade said.

Wade retracted the swords. He stepped closer to his opponent. He felt the rapt attention of the crowd. He was feeding off of it in a way.

"Hit me pretty boy. Oh wait, that doesn't apply to you anymore, does it," Shaw taunted.

"_Wade, there's something you should know about Sebastian_," Emma projected into his mind.

"Get out of my head bitch!" Wade shouted.

He swung a right hook and landed it in Sebastian's jaw. There was a horrible crunching sound as bone collided with bone. The older man fell back gracelessly.

"Count of one, count of two… Wade said.

Shaw got up on his feet.

"Is that the best you can do? Hit me you freak, you loser, you pizza-skinned, washed-up has-been male bimbo," Shaw said.

Wade kicked him this time.

"She never loved you. She just used you. Everybody just uses you and leaves. You're just a pawn on the chessboard of life. That's all you'll ever be. Just a pawn. HIT ME," Shaw mocked.

Wade screamed and knocked him down. He started pummeling the man underneath him. He kept feeling the impact over and over again.

"I'm not a loser; I'm the best at what I do. OK, second best, because Victor's brother is the best at what he does and what he does isn't nice. I'm not a pawn! I'm at least a knight. Or one of those little castle pieces. You fat fuck! You balding, trust-fund, old enough to be my father fucking prick!" Wade ranted.

"Hurt me," Shaw said.

Wade was about to lay another punch, when he noticed something odd about Sebastian. Even though Wade had been wailing on him with his own enhanced strength, his face wasn't even bruised. He was smiling like he was enjoying this. Wade realized he must be some kind of a masochist. He stopped.

"Thank you sir, may I please have another one?" Shaw said.

He grabbed Wade by both ears and pulled savagely. Wade heard a horrible tearing sound as Shaw ripped them off of his head. Sound became distorted. He cupped his head in agony.

Emma screamed.

"Can you lend me your ears?" the older man said.

He stood up and moved to jump on Wade, but Wade maneuvered out of his way. His earlobe was starting to regenerate but the pain was excruciating. Shaw kicked him in the side.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve too. I'm a mutant that absorbs kinetic energy. The more you hit me the more powerful I get. Sometimes it's truly better to receive than to give," Shaw said.

He kicked Wade again. Wade grabbed the man's foot and twisted his ankle. Shaw finally screamed.

"So you're like a big-boned energy sponge? Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob Squarepants! Absorbent and yellow and porous he is! If nautical nonsense be something you wish! SpongeBob Squarepants! Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!" Wade sang, as he drop-kicked his rival.

Shaw fell to the ground and Wade pinned him, pressing him into the floor to absorb any energy reserves he had left.

"One one thousand! Two one thousand! Three one thousand! Floor!" Wade cried out.

Marrow started clapping.

"I win," Wade said triumphantly.

"Wade…" Emma began.

Wade beamed at her.

"We are so not getting back together," she said.

"But I won," Wade said.

"I'm not an object to be fought over. It doesn't matter who won your macho brawl. I'm a married woman and I'm staying with my husband," Emma said, putting her hand down to Sebastian.

Her husband grinned triumphantly at Wade.

"Do I still get to go down in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first mercenary to hold a cake hostage? Can I have my ears back? Oh wait, they're growing in. Never mind," Wade said.

Emma and Shaw walked away. Emma looked back at Wade. He thought he saw a flicker of remorse, but it was hard to tell. Wade barely noticed that Osborn started staring at him appraisingly.

"So what do we do now?" Marrow asked.

"I think we're going into the epilogue," Wade said.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means, I'm going to find a way to kill myself," Wade said.

**To Be Continued**


	23. Chapter 23

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 23

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker.

**Thank you for any reviews!**

**Wade Wilson's Apartment Building**

Wade stumbled back to his apartment. There was an eviction notice on his door. He ripped it off, curled it into a ball, and threw it on the floor inside what passed for his foyer.

The place was covered in garbage. Dust covered most of the surfaces. Cockroaches of varying sizes scattered away from him. They were his only companionship at night.

He went to the refrigerator and got out the last beer. His reflection in the stainless steel of the refrigerator stared back at him forlornly. He had smashed all of the mirrors in his dwelling so he wouldn't have to look at what he had turned into, but he couldn't hide from every reflective surface in the world. He couldn't hide from what he was.

His eyes had dark, sunken circles underneath them. They eerily matched the black pattern on his mask. They reminded him of the sunken sockets in a skull.

He found a yellow notepad and started to write. There was something familiar about words in yellow boxes. He started to scribble ways for an almost-immortal man to kill himself.

A stake through the heart? Nah, he wasn't a vampire. He didn't have any wood lying around.

Drowning or hanging? It might work, but what if instead it caused brain damage and left him a vegetable? Too risky.

Beheading? He'd been beheaded before, but had reattached himself. This time he didn't want to survive. He also was hard-pressed to think of a single person, mutant or human that wanted him alive at this point.

He extended the Adamantium Katana blades from his wrists and tried to fold back his arms to aim at his own neck. The position was too awkward to be lethal. He wanted to die. He didn't want to painfully mangle himself in the process though.

Wade pulled the original set of Katana blades out from his arsenal. He had always thought of them as his real "babies." They had saved his life many times before he was enhanced with healing factor. How fitting they were going to help end it.

Wade did a mild practice swing with one of the swords. It felt much more natural. He cut himself slightly.

"Good-bye cruel world. What are my last words going to be? What's the point of having last words if there's no one else to hear them?" he said.

He took a deep breath and gulped. Was it easier to do a self-beheading if he inhaled or exhaled? Too bad there wasn't a manual on something like this.

Wade swung with all of his might. He felt the steel begin to sever through scar tissue and tendon. The pain was unbearable and he had to let go. The sword slid out of his hands and clanked onto the floor. Its metallic echo served as a cruel reminder of his failure.

Wade dropped to his knees. He clutched at his neck out of instinct. The blood dripped down his hands for a moment, and then he felt himself healing.

"No. No. No. No," Wade moaned.

He fell forward, covering his head with his hands. He didn't care that he was lying in a pool of his own blood. It was a "dead pool". He smiled at the irony.

There was a loud racket outside of his apartment. Lights flashed green. He heard the sound of his window being broken.

"Excuse me? Can I not kill myself in peace?" Wade asked.

He heard a cackling laugh. It sounded even stranger than Wade's own hyena-like giggle. A shadow loomed in front of him. It looked misshapen and not quite human. Wade rose to prepare for the intruder.

The Green Goblin stepped into the kitchen. He was wearing his infamous mask. The glimpse of his eyes behind it looked crazed.

"You're a funny guy Mr. Wilson. Do you know who I am? You did say I'd be groaning your name later."

"You're breaking and entering. Are you here to kill me? You have to behead me for it to really kick in. Try it with this one. I think I dulled the other one when I dropped it on the floor," Wade said, pointing the sword handle side first to the other man.

"No thanks. Assisted suicide is for hippies. I prefer pumpkin bombs," the Goblin said.

"Why exploding pumpkins? I always wondered about that," Wade asked.

"I had a traumatic Halloween once. It's a long story," he replied.

"Yeah you seem like a guy with a lot of trauma. So if you would have had a lousy Christmas, would you have turned into a Santa Claus themed super villain that throws exploding presents at people? Because that would have been cool," Wade said.

"I'm not a super villain. I'm a captain of black market industry. My real name's Norman Osborn. Sorry we've gotten off on the wrong foot before," the Goblin said.

He took his mask off and extended his hand to shake. His grip felt clammy, but strong. Too strong.

"Uh, nice to officially meet you. You look way better than Willem Dafoe. So what exactly do you want?" Wade asked.

"I think you and I should…talk. I believe you could be an asset to me. If you can snap out of this downward spiral of yours," Norman said, trailing his foot in Wade's blood.

"And what can you offer me to make me snap out of it?" Wade asked.

Norman looked at Wade like he was dissecting him. His grin resembled the mask he had taken off. His beady eyes scanned the apartment.

"Well I see you're definitely in a valley now. I know what those feel like. The trick is to find something to swing out of it," Norman said.

"Dude, I like totally haven't lived in the San Fernando Valley in like, 15 years. Gag me," Wade said, imitating a California Valley Girl.

"You know what I mean. From what I've learned about you we're both bi…"

Wade perked up.

"…polar. We both suffer from manic-depressive mood swings from the depths of depression to the heights of mania. Violent mood swings. More violent than most. I understand you Wade," Norman said conspirationally.

Wade was starting to feel a glimmer of hope. Before the acid bath he had definitely skewed more towards the manic end of the scale. He wanted to get that back. What was more enticing than being understood?

Norman sat down on a dust covered couch. Wade sat down next to him. He actually wasn't a bad-looking guy, if you got past his "eccentricities."

Wade was rusty on being flirtatious. For most of his life he'd coasted on his looks. When he was with Emma he really didn't need to flirt. After the permanent maiming he'd lost his confidence. He needed to get his "mojo" back or testosterone flowing or whatever it was called.

"And how are you going to…swing me out," Wade said, smirking.

"Well you can't sit around and mope over a woman. You need to get back to what you're good at. Explore new horizons. And I'm the right person to guide you to those horizons," Norman said.

Wade was getting excited. He enjoyed basking in Norman's attention. He started to lean in towards him.

"SPIDER! SPIDER! SPIDER! Kill it!" Norman screamed.

He slammed his hand down on the coffee table, breaking it in half. Magazines spilled to the ground. Roaches scattered away.

"Um, dude that wasn't a spider. It was a cockroach. Kill one and two more heads spring up. They're like Hydra agents," Wade said.

"Sorry. I'm arachnophobic. So where were we?" Norman said.

"You were talking about guiding me to new horizons," Wade said, putting his hand on Norman's knee and winking.

Norman's expression changed to disgust. He grabbed Wade's hand and squeezed. Wade felt bone break.

"I'm not that kind of swinger you idiot. I was talking about business horizons," Norman snarled.

"Sorry. This is incredibly socially awkward. It's my skin isn't it? Ever since I got burned I just can't seem to score with either gender."

"It's nothing personal. I experimented with another guy in prison once, but it just isn't the same without pussy. Hit on me again and I'll just rip your arm off and beat you into a coma with it," Norman said.

"No sexual harassment here! I can be very professional. If you get past the piles of rotting garbage and blood on my kitchen floor. That and the pile of my own vomit in the bathroom. So what's the job?" Wade said.

"You're a very strange man," Norman said.

"I'd tell you to look in a mirror, but I broke all of them," Wade said.

"I'm not strange. The rest of the world just fails to understand my superiority," Norman said.

"Superiority. That's it. So what's the job?" Wade deadpanned.

"Industrial espionage, sabotage, exploding pumpkins. You can be my new partner in what my lawyers will prove isn't a crime," Norman said.

"Do I get to throw an exploding pumpkin bomb?"

"Only where I tell you to," Norman said.

"Dude, you are like, the coolest boss ever. So what will the pay on this be?" Wade said.

"You'll get 10%. And to let you know, a project one of my competitors is working on is artificial skin grafts. If you stick with me long enough, you may get your old face back," Norman said.

"I can look like Ryan Reynolds again," Wade asked excitedly.

"Who the hell is Ryan Reynolds?" Norman asked.

"Wait a few decades. Do you know what this means? If I look good again, I may be able to get Emma back!"

"You've totally missed my point about exploring new horizons, but whatever gets you back in action. Let's go throw pumpkin bombs off of the Empire State Building," Norman said.

"Is that one of your competitors?"

"No. It's just fun," Norman said.

He started cackling hysterically. Wade started laughing too. They both took off into the night.

**To Be Continued in the Final Chapter**


	24. Chapter 24

Vengeance is Mastermind Chapter 24

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to X-Men or the Wolverine Origins Movies, Marvel and Fox Studios do, so please don't sue. I work in litigation so you wouldn't want to anyhow. This takes place between the Wolverine Origins Movie and the X-Men Trilogy in the mid 1980's. Rated M for really adult language and situations, drug and alcohol references. My usual mixture of dark humor/action/suspense. Victor Creed/Wade Wilson/Emma Frost/Jason Stryker/Colonel Stryker.

**Thank you for any reviews!**

**Nine Months Later, Upper East Side, New York**

Emma Frost-Shaw sat in the back of a limousine as it approached the Fifth Avenue townhouse. She thought of it as "the" townhouse, not "hers" or "ours". She only shared it with Sebastian on weekends.

With Sebastian's co-sponsorship, she had become the Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. She had started its first ever mutant training class. The curriculum was the exact opposite of what was taught at Charles Xavier's school. Although she loved her work, the long separations from her husband made her feel like their marriage was more of a distant partnership. The biggest problem with being part of a "power couple" was there seemed to be more emphasis on the power rather than being part of a couple.

There was a gas leak at a local plant and the school had to be shut down temporarily. Instead of calling Sebastian first, she decided to surprise him. Maybe a little spontaneity would break up their routine.

Emma's chauffeur opened the door for her. She stepped out and wrapped her white mink coat tighter against the chill. She walked confidently to the house.

As she entered, she thought of which room Sebastian might be in. She used her mind to search if she could hear his thoughts. She was getting stronger, but still had difficulty using telepathy if she didn't know precisely where her target was.

She climbed the marble stairs to the second floor. A voice entered her mind. It wasn't her husband's.

"_He's so kinky_," a strange woman thought.

Emma froze. She clutched the handrail so tightly her hand started to hurt. She shut her telepathy off. She didn't need it because she was now in hearing distance.

"Oh, Sebastian, you devil," a woman said.

Emma slowly walked towards the bedroom. She was getting angry. She was careful to keep her footsteps from making noise, but her telekinesis started acting up. The crystal in the chandelier above her started to rattle.

"Did you hear something?" another woman's voice asked.

There were two of them. Good Lord, it was bad enough to be cheated on with one woman, but with two? She peaked in through a crack in the door and saw Sebastian cavorting with a brunette and a redhead.

"It's probably just the subways. Nothing to worry about. My wife won't be back until tomorrow," he said.

Emma turned on her heels and ran. She rushed back to the limousine. The driver looked like he was sleeping in the front seat. She banged on the window and he looked startled.

"I was off the clock. I swear Ma'am," he sputtered.

"Just drive me," she said.

"Yes Ma'am. Where to?"

"Anywhere. I don't care. Find me a traffic jam," she said, opening the door for herself and jumping in the back seat.

They took off. The chauffeur rolled the privacy window down between them. He poked his head back.

"Are you ok? Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

Emma was fighting back tears. Of course she wasn't OK. She didn't want to break down in public though. Frosts aren't supposed to cry, especially not in front of the help.

"I'm fine thank you. Please keep your eyes on the road," she said icily, as she pressed a button sending the privacy window back in place.

Emma needed to calm down inside. She needed to catch her bearings. She poured herself a drink. She normally didn't imbibe on champagne in daylight, but this was an emergency. Emma switched on the television in the back seat.

"Hello, this is Trish Trilby of WSVN reporting to you with breaking news. Investigators have traced the recent rash of attacks on chemical and biomedical companies in the Metropolitan New York area to the criminal masterminds The Green Goblin and Deadpool. The police have dubbed them "The Sinister Two.'"

Emma choked on her drink. This day could not be happening. She grabbed for her cell phone and hastily dialed.

"Hello. It's Emma. You and I need to have a face to face conversation," she said.

**Victor Creed's Apartment **

Victor sat on his couch next to Marrow. They were watching a New York Giants vs. New England Patriot's Game. At least, he was watching it intently. Marrow seemed a bit preoccupied.

"Is this game almost over?" she asked.

"No. We're in the 3rd quarter, and they're neck and neck. Don't you like football?" Victor said.

"I don't get it. It's people throwing a ball on a field. It seems like a waste of time to sit and watch," she said.

"It's a guy thing," he said.

"So if I had testicles I would magically not find it boring anymore?" she asked.

"If ya grew testicles you'd have more to worry about than whether ya like football or not," he said.

"OK. I'll put on my makeup and leave," she said.

She never left the apartment without coating herself in enough stage makeup to pass for human. Victor remembered when he had tried to "pass" by filing his nails down. It was a tiring way to live.

"You don't have ta leave. Just let me enjoy the goddamn game," Victor said.

He had actually started to enjoy her company. In the beginning she had been an annoyance. He'd let her stay at his place so he could drink her whenever he wanted and he put up with housing her as a necessary evil. She initially slept on the couch in the living room, so he could have his space. They never even shared a bed for anything besides sex for the first 6 months.

As he got used to her, her presence comforted him. He liked having someone at home to greet him when he returned from the assignments Mr. Sinister sent him on. Familiarity didn't breed contempt, but a sense of security. They did occasionally violently fight, but even that felt "normal." It was a reminder that she could physically hold her own with him.

"I'm sorry. There's something I need to talk to you about when it's over," she said, and took out an "_Etiquette for Dummies_" book.

Uh-oh. After: "I'm pregnant" and "This is not a drill," the most dreaded words in the English language had to be: "We need to talk." Victor had a hard time concentrating on the game before him.

"Just fuckin' tell me now," Victor said.

What if she was pregnant? They hadn't been using birth control. Victor knew he wasn't the fatherly type.

"Well, Emma offered for me to go to that new mutant school of hers. Which sounds really good. I mean, with the way I used to look…still look, I couldn't go to a real school. And they didn't exactly teach us physics in the Morlock tunnels. Going there would make me less stupid," she said.

"You ain't stupid sweetheart. Yer just…ignorant," he said.

"Wow that makes me feel so much better. But this would make me less ignorant. Of course, I'd have to move to Massachusetts," she said.

Victor growled. Marrow shielded herself with bone. Victor got pissed off even more by that.

"So that's it?! After all I've done for you, yer just gonna pack up and leave me?" he snarled.

Actually he had taken a lot more from her than he had given, and he knew it. He was angrier at the thought of losing the calm she brought to him. He didn't want to lose the control she had given him.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me. But now I see that would just be…ignorant on my part," she said.

Victor's claws retracted and extended rhythmically. He thought of the taste of her blood, her child-like wonder at the world, and her awkward but endearing honesty.

"You really want me to come with you? You don't think I'm a monster?" he asked.

"We'll be monsters together," she said.

Victor grinned.

"My job is here though. Mr. Sinister needs me here," he said, weighing things over.

"You always talk about how much you hate New York. And you don't even seem to like Mr. Sinister," she said.

"I've never liked any of my bosses. I just like the money they pay me," he said.

"I'm sure Emma could find you something. People need killing everywhere. Even in this Massachusetts place," she said.

"Especially in Massachusetts. I don't know about trusting Emma though. She always seems to have an agenda lately," he said.

"You don't have to trust your bosses. You just have to trust the money they pay you. See, I'm learning," she said.

"I don't know. It's a big step for me," Victor said.

It would be a big step both professionally and personally.

At that moment, the television blared: "Hello, this is Trish Trilby of WSVN reporting to you with breaking news. Investigators have traced the recent rash of attacks on chemical and biomedical companies in the Metropolitan New York area to the criminal masterminds The Green Goblin and his newest accomplice Deadpool. The police have dubbed them "The Sinister Two.'"

"Deadpool a criminal mastermind? Wade? What the fuck?" Victor exclaimed.

The news program proceeded to play a clip of the Green Goblin's voice.

"Wait a second, doesn't that guy sound like…"Marrow began.

"…that asshole Osborn I almost killed at Emma's wedding. Which would mean I pissed off one of New York's most dangerous super powered men. Ya know, movin' to Massachusetts with ya ain't such a bad idea. I hear there's a chapter of the Brotherhood of Mutants there. Maybe they'll take me back. Their membership kinda has a revolving door," Victor said.

"Thank you! I heard it's freezing and the people have weird accents, just like Canada. I'm sure you'll love it," she said, hugging him.

"No problem. Somethin' seems a little weird about Wade and this Osborn guy teamin' up though. At the reception, they almost killed each other. Now they're partners? It doesn't make sense," Victor said.

**The Next Day, Tavern on the Green Restaurant **

Emma strode into the Tavern on the Green Restaurant outside of Central Park. It was a tourist trap, so no one of any importance would see her. She didn't think it was a good idea to be seen in public with him.

She had also wiped the mind of her chauffeur. She didn't want any loose ends to tip Sebastian off that she knew of his infidelity. Emma had been doing an awful lot of mind-wiping lately.

Emma sauntered over to the table of her "date". He was wearing large sunglasses. Perhaps he didn't want to be seen either.

"Hello Emma. You look delicious today," he said.

"Hello, Norman," she said sitting across from him.

He took his sunglasses off and she saw his eyes were bloodshot. He quickly took out two pills and downed them with a glass of water. She saw the prescription was for Lithium. She might be able to use that later.

"I see that you and Wade have been very busy lately," she said.

Norman started cackling loudly. A few people at the other tables stared suspiciously at him. Norman grinned wickedly.

"Well, idle hands are the devil's tools. And I'm certainly not idle. But Wade is fun. As I'm sure you know. He's turned out to be quite the budding protégé," Norman said winking at her.

"I asked you to look after him. Not corrupt him into another version of you," she said.

Norman's smile melted away. His expression quickly turned menacing. He stared at her.

"Mrs. Frost, or Shaw-Frost or whatever name you hide behind. You didn't ask me to look after Wade. You used your little telepathic mind-fucking to order me to look after him and then tried to mind wipe me into thinking it was my idea. Except, you only used your magic on one of us. You brainwashed Norman but you didn't brainwash the Goblin. The Goblin told me everything," Norman said.

Emma tried not to show any emotion. She just gave him an icy stare back. She hadn't counted on one of her targets having Multiple Personality Disorder.

"Well, you should be grateful to me then. I obviously did you a favor," she said.

"The way I see it, you owe me a few favors. I can use that little mental erasing trick of yours. It could help me get way with even more murder," he said.

"I'm not a murderer," she said.

"Oh really? Like how Ed Buckman mysteriously walked into a subway train, which cleared the way for you and Shaw to take over the Hellfire Club? Looks like the work of a telepath. I wonder if the detectives on that case would reopen it if they knew you were a mutant," he said.

"You have nothing to connect that to me. I never even touched him," she said.

"Is that your attitude about everything? If you don't touch anyone else, you're untouchable. If there's no contact, it doesn't count? Is that how you live with your guilt?" he asked.

Emma tried to enter his mind, but couldn't. She felt blocked. Norman grinned triumphantly, and pulled his collar to the side, revealing an attachment.

"Psionic blocker. I got one for Wade too. He's out of your influence now," he said.

"Wade means nothing to me. I just asked you to look after him to cover myself," she lied.

Emma feigned an icy exterior. She didn't want Norman to know she still cared so much. She had a feeling he was the type that would use that as leverage against her.

"Bull…" Norman said leaning forward.

"…shit," he finished.

"Say I do some mind wipes for you. What's to stop you from escalating your requests?" she asked.

"Nothing. But I don't think you have much choice about it. You wouldn't want something bad to happen to Wade under my watch, would you," he said.

"I'll tell him everything," she said.

"And why would he believe you, after the way you've treated him?"

"Fine. You win. But you're still an asshole," Emma said.

"You lose. And you're still a bitch," Norman said.

Emma threw her napkin down and left the restaurant. She called for her driver. She got in the car and turned to diamond. She turned to diamond so she wouldn't feel the guilt, the regret, and the self-hatred over all of the bad decisions she'd made.

**One Hour Later **

Emma entered the townhouse. It felt empty and cold. She found a note in the entryway from Sebastian.

It stated: "I'll be gone for the weekend. Got called out of town on business. Hugs and Kisses. Sebastian."

She crumpled it up and threw it in the garbage. He was probably shacked up in a hotel with a bimbo, or two, or three. Perhaps it was better. She had been trying to avoid him.

She walked up the stairs to the main bedroom. It felt tainted after what she had seen. Everything felt tainted. She started to push it open.

"Honey, you're home," Wade said.

He was lying on the bed like he owned the place. He was wearing his Deadpool costume and fully armed. She wasn't sure if she should be frightened. Lord only knows what Norman had fed him.

"Wade?" she asked.

"No. It's Tom Cruise," he said sarcastically.

"What did Norman tell you? You know he's insane, and you can't believe anything he says," she said.

"Guilty conscience about something?" he asked, getting up and stepping towards her.

His attitude was raising danger signs.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"You really did a number on me, Em. You really did. You talked me into going back to Team X, turned me into a monster, dumped me, married someone else, and then you shipped me off to the one guy on the planet that's even more psychotic than I am," he said.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything," she said.

"You messed me up Frost. You messed me up so much I followed you. OK, it's a little stalkerish, but with a face like mine, what options do I have? I used some of the money I've been making off of Norman to buy surveillance equipment, like sound amplifiers and recorders. I followed you today to the restaurant. So now I know that…you still love me," he said.

Emma smiled. She ran towards him. He pulled her into his arms in a passionate embrace. He took off his mask and bent down to kiss her.

"Wait! I love you, but I still find you physically repulsive," she said.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," he said.

"I'm shallow. Although I have a brilliant idea. We could have a telepathic affair. It doesn't count as adultery if we don't touch. And in our minds, I can make you look the way you used to," she said.

"That will really work? Is this like a Vulcan Mind-Meld?" he asked.

"Sort of, but it's more of an illusion than a memory," she said.

"I think I like pretend more than reality," he said.

"Most people do. Close your eyes and turn off any psionic blockers," she said.

He complied. Emma closed her eyes and concentrated. She envisioned a hall of mirrors. She looked at Wade. He morphed in her mind to the way he used to be.

"Coolness. Um, is it rude if I stare at my reflection the entire time? Because I'm narcisstic enough to get into that," he said.

"Yes. It's rude," she said.

"Sorry. How about 50% of the time?"

"Just shut up and kiss me," she said.

**The End **

**Author's Note: When I started writing this I actually didn't intend for Wade to lose his looks, and it was supposed to end shortly after the attack on Team X. I wavered on whether Wade and Emma could end up together without "breaking canon" since she ends up paired with Sebastian Shaw in the 80's and Cyclops over the past decade (I don't like the Emma/Cyclops pairing personally. She needs someone with a sense of humor). I would have liked to include a little more Marrow and Victor, but this was already my longest, most complex story ever. **

**I'm also taking a break from writing Fanfic for now. I'd like to concentrate on writing screenplays or comics that can actually be sold, (which is admittedly one of the reasons why this story lasted for so long, because I knew once I finished it, that would be the end).**

**I am grateful as ever for everyone that left positive reviews, and hope I've entertained people and improved since I started writing X-Men Origins fics last May.**


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